Ethical Mobile Companies

I was recently in the market for a mobile phone and I decided to do some research on which mobile companies were the most ethical. The companies I researched were: Virgin, Orange, O2, Vodaphone, and T-mobile - which are the biggest in the UK.

And the winner is: 02.
See www.http://www.02.com/cr/resource2006/energy_and_co2.asp

Here are the rankings:

1. 02
2. Virgin
3. Vodafone
4. Tie: Orange and T-mobile



Reasons for Rankings

The criteria I used was simple:

1. First and foremost the policy should be easy to find, clearly worded. I spent A LOT of time looking for these things. Most customers will not look at all unless it's clearly visible on the page.
2. The policy should be clearly worded and easy to understand for the average person.
4. The policy should be specific. ie. " "Will reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2011" as Vodafone states and not something vague like "effectively manage natural resource impact." After all, what on earth does that mean?
5. I should believe the company is actually following through on it's commitments.

O2

1. No hiding their intentions here.
2. Their corporate responsibility is clearly visible on their main site at www.02.com - in fact it was the reason I started looking at the other companies and comparing them to 02.
3. Their ethical policy is front and centre on their page and appears to be front and centre in their business operations.
4. They are part of the Carbon Trust (www.carbontrust.co.uk) which is a private company set up by the government set to help companies reduce their carbon footprint.
5. They have actual reports on their carbon emissions and plans to reduce them.

VIRGIN

1. The policy was a bit more difficult to find but all you have to do is click on "about us" and you can download a pdf that is interactive, easy to understand and informative.
2. The believability factor is enhanced by Virgin's great publicity department. I've very aware that they're giving billions to aid in Africa. A quick search on the internet and I found this information:

- Pledged an estimated $3 billion for research to find eco-friendly fuels.
- Announced the development of Virgin Fuel, which is alleged to be clean-burning.
- In 2006 Branson pleged to invest all profit from his Virgin Group airline and train businesses over the next decade -- an estimated $3 billion -- to fight global warming and promote alternative energy.

Vodafone

1. Front and centre on www.vodafone.com is the corporate responsibility policy.
2. Clear goals set and good environmental policy.
3. The only drawback is the site tends to be overly wordy and a bit business speaky which might deter many customers from looking into it.
4. Vodafone is the the company that is most often found in the portfolios of ethical investors. They must know something!

Orange and T-mobile

1. Both have ethical policys but both were a bit more difficult to find.
2. T-mobile has specific goals that are immediately accessible and well laid out. Orange actually seems to be doing good things but they're vague and finding specifics required a lot of digging.
3. I have no idea how much either of these companies are actually following through on their commitments.

So which phone company did I sign up with. Just to prove that I am, in fact human, the sad truth is T-mobile. Being new to the UK I actually hadn't heard of them when I started researching. I walked into a store and they were SO far ahead in terms of pricing and the phone I would get I couldn't believe it. Since then their customer service has been OUTSTANDING. I've had a few problems and called them up to get fast service, friendly and helpful people and my issues resolved. I was going to go with 02 originally but the price of T-mobile blew them out of the water. They do seem to have a good ethical policy I just hope they're actually following through on it.