With infrastructure systems lasting for decades, even centuries, there is growing need to assess sustainability impacts. However, compared to energy or transportation networks (which each contribute roughly one third of global emissions), broadband networks have arguably received less attention due to their much smaller footprint (~1.8-3.9% of global emissions). Nevertheless, many countries are looking to provide universal mobile broadband over the next decade to meet Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, this paper evaluates the future sustainability impacts of providing either 4G or 5G mobile broadband, quantifying the carbon and other environmental emissions associated with each universal broadband strategy. This paper contributes the first ex ante sustainability assessment of global universal mobile broadband strategies aimed at delivering SDG Goal 9.

翻译：鉴于基础设施系统寿命长达数十年甚至数百年，评估其可持续性影响的需求日益增长。然而，与各占全球排放量约三分之一的能源或交通网络相比，宽带网络因其较小的碳足迹（约占全球排放量的1.8%-3.9%）受到的关注相对较少。尽管如此，许多国家正计划在未来十年内提供通用移动宽带，以实现可持续发展目标（SDGs）中的第九项目标。为此，本文评估了采用4G或5G移动宽带来提供通用服务的可持续性影响，量化了每种通用宽带策略相关的碳排放及其他环境排放。本文首次对旨在实现SDG第九项目标的全球通用移动宽带策略开展了事前可持续性评估。