Photo credit WTL photos
When I published my review of tech company sustainability reports a couple of weeks back, it was suggested that I should add in telco’s as well. Instead, for clarity, I decided to publish a separate review of telco sustainability reports here.
| Company | Latest Report | Format | Remarks | External Audit | GRI Index | CEO involved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BT | 2009 | Online and PDF | Granular links and multiple PDF download options | Yes | Yes - A+ Rated | Yes |
| Telefonica | 2009 | Comprehensive document with lots of charts and numbers (Spanish only) | Yes | Yes - A+ Rated | President | |
| T-Mobile | 2009-10 | In an otherwise good report, it was disappointing to see the Chairman's involvement was a cut & paste of an online discussion he had about sustainability on another site as opposed to something specific to the report. Also, the fact that it contained a photo of the Chair using bottled waste doesn't speak well for his commitment to sustainability | Limited | Yes - A+ Rated | Chairman - kind of! | |
| Swisscom | 2009 | Website | Very confusing layout. Very difficult to find any meaningful information | No | Yes - A Rated | No |
| Vodafone | 2009 | Very comprehensive PDF only report | Yes | Yes - B+ Rated | Yes | |
| Orange | 2009 | Very comprehensive PDF only report | Yes | Yes - B+ Rated | Yes | |
| China Mobile | 2009 | China Mobile is the 1st mainland Chinese co. listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes and the thoroughness of this report is a testament to that (in English) | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Telecom Italia | 2009 | Excellent report with the information well presented and hugely transparent (wrt objectives achieved, objectives missed and targets) | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Verizon | 2009-10 | Good supporting website and report but let down by lack of GRI adherence and no external auditing | No | No | Yes | |
| SK Telecom | 2008 | Download procedure for PDF is not straightforward and commitment to produce 2009 report by May 2010 has not been met. Also the report is short on numbers and more especially targets. | Yes | Yes - B+ Rated | Yes | |
| AT&T | 2008 | PDF with options to download individual sections | Nicely laid out with goals, numbers and pretty pictures! A very good report - a shame it was only to GRI level C and not externally assured. | No | Yes C Rated | Yes |
| Telenor | No date | Online | Telenor have a CR section on their site. This section is light on numbers, specifics and targets. | No | No | No |
| 3 (owned by Hutchinson Whampoa) | n/a | n/a | No Environmental or Sustainability site I could find | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Some points to note from the review:
- BT & Telefonica both produced very good reports (though Telefonica’s was only in Spanish which limits how accessible it is outside of the Spanish-speaking world)
- T-Mobile were let down by their chairman, René Obermann, whose contribution was a cut & paste of an online interview he did a couple of months back as opposed to a report specific communication. Matters were made worse by the fact that the picture of the chairman in the report shows him with bottled water. In their Sustainability Report!
- China Mobile produced an excellent report (in Chinese and English) which was let down only by the lack of external audit
- Telecom Italia’s report was one of the best in terms of data transparency
- AT&T’s 2008 report is very nicely laid out but it is dated, only to GRI level C and not externally assured
- Telenor didn’t bother producing a report (that I could find) but they do have a Corporate Responsibility site while
- 3 (owned by Hutchinson Whampoa) don’t have any Corporate Responsibility site or report that I could find on any of its sites. For shame.
If you have any updates or would like to suggest a company, please feel free to do so in the comments below and I’ll happily update the post.
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Global telco’s sustainability reports reviewed http://j.mp/apasdR /cc @carlosdomingo
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
.@KevinIMoss I took you advice re pic when I posted my review of telco’s CSR reports here http://bit.ly/b9HClZ
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
@TomRaftery review of telco’s CSR reports http://bit.ly/b9HClZ
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Tom, I don’t suppose you have any information on diesel use by telcos? I think diesel use at remote or off-grid towers is a major pollutant, and one that comes at prime locations for renewable solutions.
It is a very good question Cormac to which I don’t have any figures to hand but several of the telcos here mention in their sustainability reports that they are trialling cell phone masts powered by renewables. This is at an early stage as yet, but expect it to become more common.