The Nation’s Network will help tackle the UK’s environmental challenges

As the UK’s largest mobile provider, VodafoneThree is building a fast, reliable network that will also create the digital backbone for a greener, more resilient future. Our £11 billion investment to create the UK’s best 5G network is about improving signal strength, boosting speeds, or widening coverage while also enabling the data, tools and insights that organisations use to better understand the environment, monitor biodiversity, reduce pollution and support the UK’s wider transition to net zero. At its core, our network strategy can support positive environmental outcomes when used by partners and public bodies.

And we’re already proving this, with live projects – our partnerships with National Parks and Breathe London – that use our technology to provide environmental and air‑quality insights that partners use to protect nature, monitor pollution, and support healthier, more sustainable communities

Together, these projects demonstrate how our network generates the environmental insights that help protect nature and improve public health. But bigger opportunities lie ahead.

A network that is better for the planet

We are modernising our network, and it will unlock greater environmental benefits:

• Environmental monitoring in the country’s most remote areas
• Hyperlocal air‑quality intelligence for communities, schools and health providers
• Data‑driven decision making for local authorities and national partners
• More energy‑efficient connectivity as older technologies are replaced with modern, low‑carbon equipment.

By 2033, our projected energy consumption will be around 31 percent lower than it would have been operating Vodafone and Three as separate networks[1].

The network build will also lower carbon emissions by removing duplicated sites and accelerating rollout of energy‑efficient 5G equipment, replacing older 2G and 3G systems. 5G technology uses up to 90 percent less energy per GB than 4G[2], meaning our customers can use more data while the network uses less power.

These changes ensure that our network will deliver connectivity in a significantly more energy‑efficient way, helping to reduce our impact on the planet, even as demand for data continues to rise.

Our commitment to net zero

This environmental ambition is underpinned by VodafoneThree’s wider, public net‑zero commitment. We are committed to achieving net zero emissions across our entire global value chain by 2040[3], including reducing our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by at least 90 percent by 2040, and cutting value‑chain emissions in half by 2030[4]. In the UK, we remain firmly on track to reach net zero operations by 2027[5], supported by our increasingly energy‑efficient network infrastructure and long‑term renewable‑energy commitments.

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By building the UK’s best network, we are supporting our partners in achieving their climate goals while also fulfilling our own sustainability commitments.

Accelerating toward a net zero future

In building the UK’s best network, we are building a platform environmental insight and action. Whether it’s protecting landscapes, reducing pollution, cutting emissions, or empowering citizens with data, the next decade of connectivity will be defined by speed, capacity, and purpose. And at VodafoneThree, we are committed to leading that future – one where connectivity supports communities, environmental organisations and public bodies as they work to protect nature and advance the UK’s journey to net zero.

As the UK accelerates toward its climate goals, we’re ready to support national and local partners in scaling digital tools that cut emissions and improve public health. By working closely with partners, we can unlock the full environmental value of the digital insights our network enables.

[1] Projected VodafoneThree energy consumption in 2033 is expected to be c31% lower than it would be without the merger, compared to Vodafone and Three progressing with standalone deployment plans in that timeframe. Effectively, by 2033, up to 31% consumption may be avoided based on the following: