Online report
We put all our detailed information online. This gives you the policies, practices, and performance behind all of our social and environmental commitments. Go to: www.o2.com/cr2006
Find out more
To get all the latest corporate responsibility news, tips, interactive tools and films go to: www.o2.com/cr
Order your copy of our printed Corporate Responsibility Report 2006, 'A communications revolution - that won't cost the earth?' here.
As you read the report, you simply need to check the box which appears on every page to add that page to your personalised report. You can then view all your selected pages at anytime and print your own report. Alternatively you can go straight to the personalised reporting section and select all the pages you wish to print.
We have designed the online version of our Corporate Responsibility Report 2006 to be available and inclusive for all user groups.
Where possible, we provide our information in a number of alternative formats. We encourage any users experiencing problems with our site to email us at: feedback@o2.com.
We have partnered with Segala to provide a web accessibility accreditation scheme as we seek to improve accessibility for the disabled, the elderly and mobile workers.
Our report has also been accredited by Plain Language Commission in recognition of its straightforward and jargon-free language.
If you would like more information about O2's corporate responsibility activities on an ongoing basis, simply email us at cr@O2.com or call the O2 switchboard on 0113 272 2000.
Corporate responsibility has informed how we have operated as a company since we first began trading as O2. Our company values are to be bold, open, trusted and clear. We try to ensure that we live those values in everything we do. We believe that conducting our business in a responsible manner simply makes good business sense.
Our customers are at the heart of our approach. We want to lead our industry in its relationship with wider society and help to inform opinion about what our products and services are, do and can do. Read more about our approach to corporate responsibility here.
In 2004, we devolved the management of corporate responsibility to our local operating businesses so that we could relate our work more closely to our customers.
Our approach is coordinated by a Corporate Responsibility Forum, which meets on a monthly basis to discuss key social, environmental and ethical issues.
We think it's important to publish a Corporate Responsibility report every year so that we stand up to scrutiny and account for our actions openly. We publish our policies, performance and progress against our stated targets and objectives.
Read more about our corporate responsibility governance.
When Telefónica acquired O2, they made it clear that they believed they had bought a well performing business and that they wanted O2 to continue operating as an autonomous business.
In terms of corporate responsibility, Telefónica and O2 share many company values, including a strong commitment to support societal development. Telefónica's Executive Chairman, César Alierta, shares his thoughts about corporate responsibility and O2 in our report.
Our latest Corporate Responsibility report will include information on additional operations in the Czech Republic and Germany that became part of O2's operations during 2006 as a result of the Telefónica takeover.
We believe that it's critical to our continued success to fully understand the views of all those who have an interest in, or are affected by, our business.
We take care to listen to a wide range of opinions, through stakeholder forums, customer feedback, independent research and consultation with communities.
We also aim to stimulate debate on key issues. During the year, we ran a series of online debates about the health and safety of using mobile phones, child protection, and where our responsibilities lie on the issue of balancing national security with individual privacy. Read more about our extensive external dialogue, or contact us at cr@o2.com.
We share a collective concern about the future of our planet and the threat of climate change. We also believe that all companies have an important role to play in tackling the challenge.
Running our telecommunications networks consumes a large amount of electricity; this contributes to emissions of greenhouse gases, believed to be the main cause of global warming. The more our business grows, the greater our impact on the environment.
We are working hard to minimise this effect wherever possible, including increasing our use of renewable energy. We've made great strides in this area already; currently, 38 per cent of our electricity consumption comes from renewable sources.
Find out more about our environmental vision, programmes and performance in our Corporate Responsibility report.
We try to make recycling your old mobile phone as easy as possible. Since our handset recycling schemes began in 2002, we've recycled more than half a million phones.
We run handset recycling schemes in all our markets and donate funds to charity partners for every phone recycled.
Simply drop your old phone into any O2 retail store, or in the UK and Germany, you can post it to us at:
UK
Freepost O2 recycling
Germany
Freepost O2 recycling, Greener Solutions GmBH, Postfach 900364, 81503 München.
We recognise that there is continued debate about whether mobile phones and base stations are safe.
We co-fund independent research into the alleged health effects surrounding exposure to radio waves. To date, scientific consensus remains clear that is no evidence that mobile technology poses a risk to health. However, we support the call for further research and adhere to strict codes of practice and expert advice.
We also believe that it's important all our customers are fully informed and we publish a customer advice leaflet on our website. You can also find out how mobile phone networks work and read more detailed information in the Health section of our Corporate Responsibility report.
As more and more people start using mobile phones, we recognise the importance of protecting the vulnerable, particularly children and young people, from inappropriate content.
We adhere to voluntary codes of practice in all our markets, and we insist that our commercial partners who provide adult content only do so to customers who have first proved they are 18 or older.
We offer a parental control setting in the UK for phones with internet content and we provide clear guidelines for parents on the safe physical use of mobile phones. We also publish several child protection leaflets, including bullying on mobile phones, sensible use of camera phones and safe use of mobile chat-rooms.
In all our markets, the number of mobile phone contracts outstrips, or is very close to, the population count. We believe that mobile services should be accessible to all types of customers, regardless of cost, special needs, age, knowledge or geography.
We offer a range of mobile tariffs, including pre-pay services which allow customers to carefully control their mobile spending.
We also examine ways to make our services more inclusive by making provision for those with special needs, such as invoicing in Braille, using larger text size or the vibrate function for the hard of hearing. Read more about our approach to inclusive services in our Corporate Responsibility report.
We believe that services in general - and mobile communications in particular - have a role in making a difference, and we are proud of the work we do with our local communities and charity partnerships.
We generally try to support causes which link to the social responsibilities we face as a business, with a particular focus on youth, education, health and the environment.
Our employees are a vital part of our involvement in the community, not only raising substantial funds through various activities, but also donating their time and energy to make a difference in others' lives.
You can read more about the programmes we run in all our markets in our Community section or find out more about our community investment approach in general.
We think our employees are outstanding, and a vital part of our success as a business. We aim to be a great place to work and try to provide the conditions, rewards and work-life balance that make people not only want to work for O2, but also proud to do so.
Our efforts have been well recognised this year through independent surveys. O2 UK was named among the top 30 great places to work in the UK by the Great Place to Work® Institute; O2 Germany was in Germany's Best Employers 2006 awards, and O2 Ireland was named overall best company to work for in Ireland in 2006.
Read more extensive information about our general employment practices and policies and on our approach in the workplace throughout the last year.
