Nokia’s goal to reach net zero by 2040, how do student interns get involved in sustainability initiatives?

Networking equipment consumes significant power, so a major part of Nokia’s sustainability work focuses on improving energy efficiency at the hardware and network level. For example, our FP5 network processor reduces power consumption by up to 75% compared to the previous generation, helping lower the energy footprint of IP routers.

Student interns can contribute to these efforts by working on projects related to network performance optimization, automation, and telemetry, areas that directly impact how efficiently networks operate. Whether it’s developing smarter algorithms to manage network load, improving observability to detect energy inefficiencies, or testing low-power configurations in labs, interns help support Nokia’s goal of building high-performance networks that consume less power and move us closer to net zero by 2040.

That’s impressive, Yousef — it’s amazing how much impact optimization and automation can have on energy efficiency.

For interns, do they usually get to work more on the software/algorithm side, or also on testing and lab configurations?

It depends on the specific team and project you join.

Some interns focus more on the software and algorithmic side, helping to build automation logic, telemetry pipelines, or optimization scripts that make our systems more energy-aware. Others work in lab environments, testing new hardware configurations, validating power efficiency at the card or router level, or helping integrate those findings into network automation workflows.

Both areas directly support our sustainability goals, because improving software efficiency and hardware utilization go hand-in-hand in reducing the overall power footprint of large-scale networks.

That said, the algorithmic development side is typically led by Nokia Bell Labs, where many graduate and PhD students work on the scientific and mathematical models behind those optimizations.