Desmond Toh, marketing director of D-Link, a global leader in Ethernet connectivity, believes that “companies are facing many challenges to maintain profitability,” he says, citing, among others, the continuously rising energy costs, compounded by the also continuously rising fuel costs, so that “companies are incessantly looking at reducing their operating costs.”

This is basically why the company saw it fit to introduce green products, in order for it to “help reduce power consumption, producing less heat, resulting in extended product life, and lowering the operating cost – all while benefiting the environment,” says Toh.

D-Link, founded in 1986, is a D-Link, founded in 1986, is a global leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of advanced networking, broadband, digital, voice, and data communications solutions. With a core competency in Ethernet connectivity, it is the global leader in providing
network connectivity solutions to small and medium-sized business (SMBs) in over 100 countries. D-Link's international headquarters are located in Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. More than 90 global offices serve North America, Asia and Europe, including the North American headquarters in Fountain Valley, California.

D-Link maintains strategic operations in Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Israel, the Middle East, South Africa, Chile, Australia, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, China, India, and other countries on five continents. And for the company that surpassed the $1 billion revenue milestone in 2005, “we do more than meet the growing demand for computer networking and communications solutions; we fuel it,” Toh says.

D-Link has been awarded patents and copyrights on a variety of technology platforms, including Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) computer chips, hardware technology designs, and software applications, among others. And as a key contributor to the Digital Home Working
Group (DHWG), D-Link “embraces industry standards as criterion for the development of new and innovative connectivity and communications solutions for home and business, with its products certified by the FCC, the Wi-Fi Alliance, and CableLabs.”

Specifically pertaining its greening, “D-Link has worked with its suppliers to comply with the European Union’s directive for Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in electrical and electric equipment. The RoHS directive prohibits the importation of electronic equipment containing certain hazardous substances, which has been effective since July 1, 2006. Although this directive is not enforced in South East Asia, D-Link has taken the initiative to ensure the directive is complied within its corporation globally,” Toh says.

Aside from this, the company has also been ISO 14001 certified since 1999, “once again showing that we are a company that cares for the environment,” Toh adds.

D-Link’s greening actually focuses on  three key areas: power saving chipsets, energy saving cable length detection, and the extension of the Green Ethernet initiative to full range of switches. To attain these goals, “we will continue to explore other areas where we can extend our green efforts, adjusting and adding resources to meet consumers’ and business’ needs accordingly,” Toh says.

Already, internal tests conducted by D-Link has shown that its products, such as the DGS-1005D Gigabit switch, are capable of a maximum power saving of up to 44% when connected devices are powered down, and a power saving of up to 27% when connected devices are used for
10 hours and powered down for 14 hours over a 24-hour period, via 20m Ethernet cables. The DGS-1008D Gigabit switch is capable of maximum power savings of up to 80% and 40%, respectively.

“Customer will be happy to know that they can also save money when using our green products. As they consume less power, they are cheaper to operate and also enjoy a longer product life span,” Toh says. “And with the rising concern on global warming and rising energy cost, we believe our green products will be appealing and will provide an alternative to customers who would like to contribute their efforts towards helping the environment.”

Interestingly, D-Link is “not expecting any recoup for these investments as we see this as part of our social responsibility as a vendor. Our view is that this is a win-win situation between the consumer and D-Link in our joint efforts to protect the environment, which is the responsibility of everyone. D-Link is proud to be able to contribute to such an initiative,” Toh ends.

For more information, visit d-link.com.