A message from Telefónica O2 UK’s Chief Executive Officer, Ronan Dunne

We’re better, connected

In my new role as Chief Executive of Telefónica O2 UK, I am delighted and proud to introduce our Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report for the first time.
 
Working hand-in-hand with Telefónica our commitment to be responsible, open and trusted is stronger than ever.

Our approach to CR is simple. It’s characterized by our focus on getting things done – we call it “You can, We can.”  As a business, we can do more but we can also inspire and enable our customers to act on the things they care about. 

Companies get the reputation they deserve. And, during our six-year history, we have applied our values and ethics, stakeholder dialogue and customer focus to create a successful and sustainable business. We also work hard to do the right things for our customers, our people, and the communities we operate in.

The results can be seen in O2 customer satisfaction scores: 1st in 2007, and in our employee feedback; 87 per cent are proud to work here.

But not everyone in our industry takes the long-term view. It’s disappointing to hear the mobile industry generates more complaints to Consumer Direct than estate agents and second hand car salesmen: this in a year when the practice of ‘slamming’ or mis-selling was widely publicised. We’ve already taken a hard line on this with successful legal action against a number of businesses, and we’ll continue to do so. Our industry must be accountable for its actions every day.  At O2 we will put our customers first, canvass stakeholder opinion, and take a leading role.  It’s time for us all to take greater pride in our industry’s reputation and build long-term confidence. 

While corporate responsibility issues do exist in the mobile and broadband industries, we think they also offer solutions - in the environment, the community and for our growing number of employees.

As we move from being a mobile phone company to a total communications and entertainments business, we will focus on: 

• Seizing the opportunities that faster data services bring to our customers, especially where our products can support UK households. For example, we are seeing great strides in the development of machine-to-machine applications that can enable customers to control their household appliances remotely to better manage their bills.
• Harnessing the scale and financial clout of our parent company Telefónica to invest in better networks, new products our customers want, and simple, value-for-money services for all.
• Enabling our people to put their energy into supporting the areas where they live and work, via our flagship partnership It’s Your Community and other projects, such as crime prevention.

Our industry is robust despite the current credit crunch.  More than ever during these uncertain times, we will make customers’ experiences our top priority. We can, for example, continue to develop flexible consumer price plans.  Our new Simplicity tariff is a good example. It enables customers to keep their old handsets and benefit from lower costs, while also supporting the environment.

We are doing our best to help combat climate change by reducing and conserving energy, and we report here on our performance against previously stated targets.

Despite our growth and the launch of broadband, our target is to reduce total energy consumption, based on CO2 per unit of call traffic, by 20 per cent by 2020. From July 2008, when new supplier contracts kick in, we’ll use even more renewable energy as well. 

Our Corporate Responsibility Report highlights what we do well. But it acknowledges too, where we need to raise our game. 

I believe our future lies in giving our customers the best products and services on the market and building trust with everyone we touch.