Following input from around 9,000 stakeholders, Tele2 has identified four key areas of focus for their new sustainability drive
With each passing year, telcos are becoming more and more aware of their responsibility towards creating a sustainable business that is beneficial not only for their financial bottom line, but also for the planet, for society and, ultimately, the future.
For Sweden’s Tele2, sustainability has been a major goal for many years. In April 2020, the company reached an impressive milestone, becoming the first operator in the Nordics and Baltics to become climate neutral in their own operations. But this is just a starting point.
“It is important for us that our sustainability efforts are focused on areas where we can maximise our impact,” said Kjell Johnsen, president and CEO of Tele2. “Our sustainability efforts should benefit us, our customers and society at large. We can make a significant impact while also becoming more efficient and find new business opportunities, not least within B2B.”
Last week, Tele2 launched its new sustainability strategy, building on learnings from recent analysis. In the latter half of 2020, Tele2 conducted analysis of its past and future sustainability efforts, including gathering input from over 9,000 employees, consumers, B2B customers and investors. Results were ultimately distilled down into four key focus areas, which are to become pillars of the new sustainability strategy.
Advancing a circular economy: Building on its own climate neutral achievement, Tele2 will now work to reduce the climate impact of its value chain, including vendors and customers.
Diversity in the workplace: Tele2 will increase efforts to promote an inclusive and diverse environment for its staff. The company has previously pledged to create a gender balanced workplace by 2023.
Innovation for sustainability: The operator will focus on using its connectivity and connectivity to create sustainability value. Tele2 cites the IoT as a key area of interest, potentially offering major efficiency gains and reducing resource consumption, as well as costs.
Protecting children online: With the pandemic meaning that children are now even more reliant on the internet than ever before, not only for entertainment but now for their education. Tele2 will further increase its efforts to protect children online, following the launch of their parental guidance platform Lajka in Sweden, together with the Swedish Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia's Foundation.
Tele2 says that their sustainability efforts will be sharpened by these focus areas, adding that part of their management’s incentives and key performance indicators will be tied to short-term sustainability goals.
Beyond sustainability, Tele2 recently won 5G spectrum in the Swedish 5G spectrum auction via Net4Mobility, its joint venture with Telenor, and is now upgrading its 5G services in 30 Swedish locations. The upgrade will allow customers to access ‘real 5G’, with downlink speeds of >1 Gbps.
Source: https://www.totaltele.com/508413/Tele2-targets-sustainability-with-new-strategy