June 1, 2009, Washington, DC - The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) announced today the release of its Report on Environmental Sustainability . Developed by the ATIS Exploratory Group on Green (EGG) on behalf of the ATIS Board of Directors, the report holistically assesses areas of sustainability in relation to the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.

The report evaluated various sustainability aspects including: the ICT sector’s definition of “sustainability”; a review of the ICT sector’s current “green” initiatives; an examination of energy efficiency practices and alternate energy sources; an outline of the business drivers behind the ICT sector’s sustainability actions; and a demonstration of the ICT industry as an enabler of applications and services that improve energy efficiency in other sectors. The report also includes a number of considerations and recommendations that, if applied, can enable the ICT community to achieve greater sustainability vis-à-vis network facilities, enterprise and home networks, applications and services, and corporate operations. For instance, the report concludes that consideration should be given to:

• Educating policy makers and legislators on the ICT industry’s position to help develop greenhouse gas reducing solutions
• Developing and implementing internal sustainability policies and programs -- taking into account the Triple Bottom Line (economic, ecological and social success)
• Enacting simple energy saving practices to reduce the consumption of energy, such as performing energy audits on a per facility basis and outlining actions towards reducing energy consumption, such as r etiring and de-powering obsolescent or underutilized equipment.
• Pro-actively seeking ways in which ICT solutions can be readily adopted in reducing the carbon footprint of a number of industries, including transport; power; logistics; and others.

“The ATIS Report on Environmental Sustainability broadly addresses a burgeoning area in ICT,” said Susan Miller, ATIS President and CEO. “This report provides a roadmap toward industry’s continued sustainability, and ensures those actions are balanced against industry’s environmental responsibility, social acceptance, and economic viability. Going forward, applications of the identified methods can enable industry to improve efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint.”

Chaired by Harald Braun, President and CEO, Harris-Stratex Networks, companies represented in the EGG included Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, BT, Bechtel, Cisco Systems, Ericsson Inc., Juniper, NetTraffic, Nortel, Qwest Communications, Verivue, and Verizon Communications. The EGG will continue its work in sustainability in a second phase assessment of issues considered of importance in the Report on Environmental Sustainability. A copy of the report can be obtained from the ATIS website at http://www.atis.org.

ATIS Green Mission Statement:
ATIS and its members are committed to providing global leadership for the development of environmentally sustainable solutions for the information, entertainment, and communications industry. The development of these innovative end-to-end solutions will:

• Promote Energy Efficiencies.
• Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
• Promote “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.”
• Promote eco-aware business sustainability.
• Support the potential for societal benefits.

About ATIS
ATIS is the leading technical planning and standards development organization committed to the rapid development of global, market-driven standards for the information, entertainment and communications industry. More than 300 companies actively formulate standards in ATIS’ 20 Committees, covering issues including: IPTV, Service Oriented Networks, Home Networking, Energy Efficiency, IP-Based and Wireless Technologies, Quality of Service, Billing and Operational Support. In addition, numerous Incubators, Focus and Exploratory Groups address emerging industry priorities including “Green”, IP Downloadable Security, Next Generation Carrier Interconnect, IPv6 and Convergence.

ATIS is the North American Organizational Partner for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a member and major U.S. contributor to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio and Telecommunications’ Sectors, and a member of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). For more information, please visit www.atis.org.