"Green" is buzzword not just in the wireless and telecom markets, but in numerous fields, from construction to transportation, as companies seek to be both more energy efficient and environmentally responsible. Energy savings are a key component of Sprint's (NYSE:S) Network Vision project, for example. However, some critics charge that companies are hardly following the green ethic. How much effort are telecoms putting forth to reduce their energy demands while delivering services? As carriers increase the capacity of wireline networks to meet ever-increasing demand, the energy required to fulfill that capacity is also rising exponentially. That's part of the reason the Green Touch Consortium was formed to find ways to reduce energy expenditure. The consortium suggested it is possible to reduce the net energy consumption in communications networks up to 90 percent by 2020 through a combination of "technologies, architectures, components, algorithms and protocols," according to a recent whitepaper. Our sister publication FierceTelecom has taken an in-depth look at how telcos are doing at making their networks more green. Special report
