23 November, 2011

Press release: Towards a low carbon economy

More than 100 stakeholders from telecoms and energy utility sectors as well as the EU institutions and national regulatory authorities gathered for the first ETNO workshop on broadband networks and smart grids hosted by Belgacom. The event was opened by Philippe Lowe, Director General of  DG Energy; Paul Timmers, Director, DG Information Society; Malcolm Johnson, Director ITU-T, Telecommunications Standardisation Bureau (TSB); Bart Van Den Meersche, EVP Enterprise Business Unit, Belgacom and Mario Costamagna, Director Marketing Green Solutions, Telecom Italia.

Brussels- More than 100 stakeholders from telecoms and energy utility sectors as well as the EU institutions and national regulatory authorities gathered for the first ETNO workshop on broadband networks and smart grids hosted by Belgacom. The event was opened by Philippe Lowe, Director General of  DG Energy; Paul Timmers, Director, DG Information Society; Malcolm Johnson, Director ITU-T, Telecommunications Standardisation Bureau (TSB); Bart Van Den Meersche, EVP Enterprise Business Unit, Belgacom and Mario Costamagna, Director Marketing Green Solutions, Telecom Italia.


“Smart grids are essential to move towards a low carbon economy and to contribute to achieving the ambitious EU goals in terms of energy efficiency and CO2 emissions reductions. The development of services such as smart grids and meters will also encourage consumers and businesses to embrace high speed broadband based solutions. ETNO calls on policy makers to facilitate dialogue between telecoms and power sectors in order to accelerate the deployment of smart grids”, says Luigi Gambardella, ETNO Executive Board Chair.

ICT can help other strategic sectors of the economy reduce their own emissions, and in particular the energy sector. In addition, the deployment of smart electricity grids and meters will also be essential in helping cities reach their low carbon objectives, in line with the recently launched European Smart Cities Initiative. The aim of the ETNO workshop on Broadband Networks and Smart Grids is to raise awareness of the role that ICT-enabled solutions can play in the energy sector, identify policy and regulatory obstacles and initiate a dialogue with the main stakeholders in the energy sector, in line with the objectives of the Digital Agenda for Europe.

ICT can play an essential role in upgrading traditional energy systems and creating  a networked, automated, distributed, market- and service-based ICT-enhanced energy system in which new optimization solutions  and business models can emerge. Facilitating future smart grid applications such as distributed generation, electric cars, energy storage, demand response, virtual power plants, or home automation will require greater degrees of integration, and hence bandwidth. Thus, in this respect, broadband networks are a prerequisite to enable the development of an intelligent energy system which raises technology, strategic and policy issues concerning the relationship between smart grids, broadband development and the environment, all of which will be addressed by this conference.

ETNO strongly believes in the importance, of developing a common understanding of relevant issues and creating synergies that will lead to a win-win situation for the benefit of both industry and citizens. 

To address the aforementioned issues, the workshop has been organized around two panels. The first one, moderated by Miguel Toledano from Cullen International, is looking at business models while the second one, chaired by Lorenzo Pupillo of Telecom Italia, aims to identify regulatory obstacles and the necessary policy measures to accelerate the deployment of the smart girds. Speakers include regulators, ICT equipment and telecoms operators, electricity distributors and policy makers.

More information about the programme, can be found at the following link:http://www.etno.be/Default.aspx?tabid=2413

For more information, please contact: Thierry Dieu, ETNO Acting Director/ Communications Manager Tel: (32-2) 219 32 42 Fax:  (32-2) 219 64 12 E-mail: dieu@etno.be

ETNO’s 40 member companies and 10 observers from Europe and beyond represent a significant part of total ICT activity in Europe. They account for an aggregate annual turnover of more than €600 billion and employ over 1.6 million people. ETNO companies are the main drivers of broadband and are committed to its continual growth in Europe.

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