Press Releases

Budapest, May 31, 2018 17:30

Group Sustainability Report 2017 published

• ISS-oekom’s Corporate Responsibility Review 2018 assessing 3800 investment targets around the world named Magyar Telekom as the TOP1 performer in the global telecommunication industry according to its sustainability related operations in 2017.
• Behind this achievement of Magyar Telekom there is a history of systematic and transparent sustainability activities across all corporate segments, and the tradition of the annual publication of its audited and certified Sustainability Report in full compliance with the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) standard.
• Its recently published Magyar Telekom Sustainability Report 2017 highlights the positive impact of digitalization on sustainable growth, in line with Telekom’s Sustainability Strategy 2016-2020. Examples are as follows:
  
  • Telework, which has a significant effect of putting less burden on the environment. The company’s personnel put in more than 123 000 telework days last year, thus saving close to 4 million kilometers of travel and 20 years of travel time in total.
  • The company completed its third carbon-neutral year in 2017, and extends its carbon-neutrality investments to include the Magenta 1 and Magenta 1 Business services this year.
  • Employees put in a total of 13 641 volunteer work hours mainly aimed at charitable efforts and digital education, thus generating value for the society in the amount of HUF 58.7 million in 2017.

Magyar Telekom’s commitment to sustainability is confirmed by the fact that an independent investment analyst addressing the sustainability of businesses, ISS-oekom research ranks the company first in the telecom sector in its latest annual report. “We are proud that by our own services and working culture, we have contributed to becoming an even more sustainable company, and thus have demonstrated that digitalization makes the world a better place,” emphasized Magyar Telekom Chief HR Officer, Zsuzsanna Friedl. ISS-oekom’s report reviewed the sustainability activities of 3800 companies across the world based on December 2017 data, along approximately 100 indicators. Due to the consistent and transparent sustainability activities, close to a third of the freely floated shares of the company are already held by responsible investors, who invest into companies that play a leading role in terms of sustainability.

Telekom finds it extremely important to demonstrate how its services can contribute to sustainable development, that is why for many years, it has put special emphasis on promoting alternative means of work, like telework, part-time and flexi-time setups, which would have been impossible without the help of modern communications means and telecommunications. These alternative ways of work, coupled with the inclusive, open corporate culture, support work-life balance, thus contribute to decreasing workplace stress, along with increasing personal performance and employee engagement. This new-generation approach to work mainly serves the interests of employees, but it also generates significant savings in terms of energy consumption. In 2017, 123 227 telework days were registered at the company, which means that Magyar Telekom employees saved close to 4 million kilometers of travel and 20 years of travel time in total.

The company firmly believes that ICT creates accessibility, contributes to eliminating the social divide, and improves the competitiveness of individuals and communities. In that spirit, last year, Telekom:

• continued its intensive network development, contributing to the achievement of the Government’s objective of making high-speed, broadband fixed-line internet accessible in every Hungarian household by the end of 2018. Modern network infrastructures are a crucial precondition to providing top-quality services to customers.
• further strengthened its cooperation with Autistic Art Foundation, and donated tablets designed for kids to contribute to the digital means the educational work pursued in the special housing facilities relies upon.
• continued its “Become an IT expert!” vocational orientation program, which is aimed at increasing awareness about the benefits of choosing IT as a career, thus contributing to the effort of generating a succession pool for the industry.
• helped spread digital literacy by means of its Digital Bridge at Small Settlements Program and other similar initiatives.

An important achievement of last year is that Magyar Telekom Group has managed to complete its third consecutive year of carbon-neutral operations after 2015 and 2016. As a result of its energy-efficiency investments, the Group decreased its paper consumption by 66%, its water consumption by 25%, its natural gas consumption by 60% in seven years, and covers 100% of its electricity consumption in Hungary from renewable resources. The remaining emissions are neutralized by the purchase and elimination of CER units (Certified Emission Reduction unit). One of the objectives for 2018 is to extend the climate protection activity to cover customers, too. In that spirit, this year, Telekom neutralizes the carbon footprint of Magenta 1 and Magenta 1 Business services, including the networks and customer-premise equipment, too.

Telekom’s goal is to reach 100 000 people in Hungary by its digital skills development initiatives by the end of 2020. Partly linked to that effort, volunteer work is an important part of Magyar Telekom’s corporate culture. In 2017, more than 1200 employees put in a total of 13 641 volunteer hours, thus generating a value of HUF 58.7 million for the society through charitable and educational work.

The full Sustainability Report 2017 is available through the following link: https://www.telekom.hu/static-tr/sw/file/sustainability-report-2017.pdf