Unmasking the Environmental Impact of Advanced Connectivity

Digital connectivity is often treated as weightless and clean, yet the physical infrastructure delivering gigabits of data per second carries a substantial environmental footprint. This briefing synthesises recent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data across satellite, fixed fibre, and mobile cellular networks. The report identifies four structural realities: 

1. Satellites: Launch exhaust is not the main climate culprit; hardware manufacturing and user dishes generate 78% of emissions. 
2. Fibre Broadband: Earth-moving civil works and trenching drive 46% of a fibre network’s lifecycle carbon footprint in clean-grid regions. 
3. The Measurement Paradox: Changing the carbon metric (per gigabyte delivered vs. per square kilometre covered) completely flips whether fibre or satellite appears greener. 
4. Mobile Networks: Energy efficiency gains cannot outpace exponential data growth; meeting Net Zero requires structural “digital sufficiency”. 

Access the Insight Report to read in full.