Vodafone India Reinforces Commitment to Sustainability

17012014

 

Releases ‘Footprints III’- Sustainability Report 2013

First Sustainability Report by an Indian Telecom Company as per latest GRI G4 guidelines
Vodafone India and TERI announce a strategic partnership
To jointly develop Sustainability initiatives for Energy Conservation and Green Telecom
Delhi, January 16, 2014:
Vodafone India, one of India’s leading telecommunications service providers, today announced the release of “Footprints-III”, the third edition of its annual Sustainability Report. A digital version of the report was formally released in the presence of Dr. RK Pachauri, Director General, The Energy Resources Institute (TERI).
Dr. Shashi Tharoor, the Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development , complimenting this initiative said, “Telecommunications have a vital role to play in nation building. By virtue of the services telecoms provide, the sector enables inclusion and facilitates holistic growth. Better connectivity will allow us to fulfill our national priorities of educating all, greater financial inclusion and smarter distribution of government benefits to the citizens. I congratulate Vodafone India for taking the lead in this endeavour and wish them more success in empowering communities.” Speaking on Vodafone India’s Sustainability strategy,
Marten Pieters, Managing Director and CEO, Vodafone India, said, “At Vodafone, sustainability is an ongoing journey and engrained in the business we do. We see our customers, employees, shareholders and the community we operate in as our most important stakeholders. Contributing to society is intrinsic to our corporate mission. Our aspiration is to be the most trusted and respected telecommunications company in India and we are committed to play our due role as a conscientious corporate citizen. We will continue to partner with government and the developmental sector to make meaningful contributions for the social and economic development of our country.”
Continuing the endeavour to consistently raise the bar in reporting on sustainability, this edition of the report has been compiled referencing G4 — the most recent guidelines from Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). GRI is a world-renowned independent institution that sets benchmarks and standard frameworks for sustainability reporting. The G4 guidelines ensure up-to-date disclosures on governance, ethics and integrity, supply chain management, anti-corruption and Green House Gas emissions.
Speaking about
‘Footprints-III’, Vodafone India’s Sustainability Report 2013, Sunil Sood, Chief Operating Operator, Vodafone India, said, “Vodafone Cares’ is our platform to integrate all the good that Vodafone India does as an organisation. The initiatives under ‘Vodafone Cares’ are built around 3Es – Empowerment, Education and Environment, the strategic components of sustainability at Vodafone India. This report chronicles the initiatives undertaken during the year through this 3E approach.”
‘Footprints III’ – Sustainability Report 2013 is being published in the digital format only and can be downloaded from http://www.vodafone.com
Vodafone India and TERI, an independent, non-profit research organisation that focuses on energy, environment and sustainable development, signed a strategic partnership for further embedding and promoting sustainability in Vodafone India’s operations and initiatives.
Announcing the partnership,
Dr. R. K. Pachauri, Director General, TERI, said, “Our mission at TERI is to develop and promote technologies, policies and institutions for efficient and sustainable use of natural resources. We are delighted to partner with Vodafone India and work with them to further enhance the scale and impact of their initiatives to promote sustainability.”
Speaking on the occasion,
Mr. Rohit Adya, External Affairs Director, Vodafone India, said, “At Vodafone India, our core belief of ‘what is good for society is also good for business drives us to make our business and operations more sustainable. The mobile technology has the power to catalyse social transformation by empowering communities and individuals, facilitating a sustainable future for all. We look forward to working with TERI to progress on our sustainability journey and fulfill our role as a responsible corporate.”
The areas of engagement between the two corporate partners include strategic advisory and knowledge sharing, energy conservation and carbon footprint reduction for Greener Telecom. The two organisations will also explore opportunities to jointly build advocacy and promote the cause and purpose of sustainability in the public domain.
About Vodafone India
Vodafone India is a member of the Vodafone Group and commenced operations in 1994 when its predecessor Hutchison Max acquired the cellular license for Mumbai. The company has operations across the country serving over 150 million customers. This journey is a strong testimony of Vodafone’s success in a highly competitive and price sensitive market. Vodafone India in its long-term commitment to India has been providing innovative, customer friendly and reliable products and services by continuously differentiating itself with a strong brand, best quality network, unique distribution and great customer service.
Vodafone has been receiving several awards and recognition across different segments. At the Aegis Graham Bell Awards 2013, the company was awarded for excellence in ‘Service Innovation’ and ‘Innovation in Training and Learning’ categories. The company also received the ‘Best 3G services operator’ at the recent tele.net Telecom awards. In a survey conducted by Nielsen; Vodafone India has been recognized as the ‘Most Likeable Brand’ in the consumer services category. Vodafone India has also been making significant strides with its wide retail presence in the country. The company won the award for innovation in Retail, at International women leadership forum for the concept of Angel (all women) stores across the country. The company has been recognized as one of the ‘Best Employer of Choice’ in telecom sector by ‘Great Places to Work’ and Vodafone Business Services has been awarded the “Best Enterprise Service Provider” at the Frost & Sullivan Awards for three consecutive years in 2011, 2012 and 2013. On the technology front, the company has also won the Enterprise & IT Infrastructure Global Excellence Award for its Business Intelligence (BI) transformation project.
As a value based organization, Vodafone is committed to achieving the highest standards of Health, Safety and Well-being not only for its employees but also for all its partners. For creating such a responsible culture in the organization, the company recently received the Golden Peacock Occupational Health & Safety Award 2013.
Vodafone India was awarded the ‘Green Telecom Company of the Year’ at the Telecom Leadership Awards 2012 by a renowned media group recently and has also received the “Golden Peacock Award” for corporate social responsibility for 2012 and for Innovation in Product/Service in Telecom category for 2013.
Vodafone is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies with approximately 411 million customers in its controlled and jointly controlled markets as of 30 September 2013. Vodafone has equity interests in telecommunications operations in nearly 30 countries and around 50 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit: http://www.vodafone.com. Follow us on twitter @VodafoneIN
For further information, please contact:
Vodafone India | indiacorpcomm@vodafone.com