CEO's statement

Message from Rudi Gröger, Chief Executive O2 Germany

Better commitment, stronger performance.

O2 Germany's performance is getting stronger and stronger. Our customer base and our revenues grew faster last year than any of our competitors in the German mobile market, which is Europe's largest. As a result our market share improved and our brand gained greater recognition.

I put this down primarily to the effort we have put into improving the service we give our customers. We aim to make sure that we have the right spread of services to meet a wide range of customer demands - whether they are looking for innovative data services through our growing 3G network, or for clear and well-priced packages that allow them to manage the cost of their mobile use.

Our customers don't just look to us to get the service offer right. They want more from us as a company that's why we have worked so hard to understand their expectations and to respond to their concerns.

Take the work we are doing to make sure young people and children can use their mobile phones safely. This includes Polly and Fred - a CD-ROM which explains responsible use of mobile phones - monitoring of chat rooms and work on an industry-wide code of conduct which will see us test and implement call barring and age certification

Having launched fast 3G internet services during the year, it's very important that we make sure children's access to possibly damaging content is carefully controlled.

Youth and education are at the centre of our community programme, through which we support, among others, the German Children and Youth Foundation with their programme SCHOLA-21. Through the creation of the Internet platform www.schola-21.org, schoolchildren now have the chance to work internationally on important Internet-based projects, increasing their skills and their experience of each other's cultures.

As the debate on climate change heightens, environmental protection has become increasingly important. I'm delighted that we've made such significant progress on this, not least by successfully gaining certification under the ISO14001 international environmental standard. We are committed to supporting the European Commission's 6th Environment Action Programme and we have aligned our group objectives and targets to reflect the four key areas the Programme expects EU governments and industry to address. We will also use the strength of our brand to raise environmental awareness more widely.

O2 Germany's continuing success is built on the dedication and skill of the people who work for the company. Our employees remain committed to improving the experience the customers get from O2 so that we can rely on their loyalty. They want to work for a company that takes its social responsibilities seriously. In return I hope that we are successfully creating a working environment that is stimulating and sensitive to the needs of all employees.

This is the second time we have reported our corporate responsibility performance in a separate German booklet. Last year's report was launched at an event at the National Gallery in Berlin where our guests had the unique opportunity to visit the New York MoMA exhibition. This was our first event that brought together nearly 200 key stakeholders around the subject of corporate responsibility.

We have tried to ensure with this externally verified report gives you a balanced view of how O2 affects the people it touches, the physical environment and society at large across Germany.

I would encourage you to contact us with any thoughts, comments or ideas that you may have about this report and our corporate responsibility performance overall.