Tele Energy 2000-a three-year campaign for saving energy at Telia

Telia has carried out an intensive cost-cutting exercise in the area of energy supply for telecommunication processes. The development of the telecom network has long been accompanied by the extensive standardisation of products and procedures. The use of modular design, moreover, has resulted in systems which are highly flexible. These factors, combined with effective management and close operational control, have helped pave the way for Telia's successful development in the telecommunications field. However, these approaches have not been applied to the same degree and with the same consistency on the energy side. Energy supply plant and, above all, cooling systems have been designed and built to meet the needs of existing exchange buildings-rather than the other way round-and with little regard for standardisation or closer integration with the telecom process as a whole. This failure to achieve an overall view has led to the high costs we are now seeking to remedy. The objectives set out for Tele Energy 2000 included a 15% reduction in annual costs for the Network Services Division after three years. A before-and-after cost comparison for the three-year period was to be made using figures derived from the cost-budget model presented in 1992. An examination of costs three years on shows that we have not fully succeeded in achieving that objective.