LightSpeed – Our

Commitment to Net Zero

LightSpeed is on a mission to unlock the digital potential and economic benefits of gigabit connectivity, levelling up communities underserved by current providers and transforming them as they achieve ‘digital equality’ by enabling opportunities for residents and businesses. Importantly, we are committed to doing this in the most sustainable way that protects our environment.

As well as bringing speed and reliability to digital communications, gigabit broadband also delivers associated environmental benefits to the communities we operate in. As residents can work more flexibly and effectively from home, the need for travel and commuting is reduced along with energy consumption and carbon emissions. Businesses can compete on a global scale, creating locally based jobs and bringing prosperity to the region.

Fibre – a sustainable choice

Our Gigabit network uses state-of-the-art technology to bring 100% fibre optic directly in to  homes, businesses and premises (FTTP).  This brand new full fibre network is inherently more energy efficient and sustainable than out-dated copper networks.  Significantly less energy is required to transmit the same amount of data over a fibre optic cable, than over a copper wire, and as a fibre network does not heat up, less energy is lost to the environment and there is no need for cooling systems in our network hubs, exchanges and data centres.

Fibre is also a greener choice than copper, as fibre optic cables are made from glass, which in turn comes from one of the most plentiful materials on earth, silicon dioxide. Silicon dioxide is extracted from the earth’s crust in a much more sustainable way than copper which needs to be mined, causing more pollution and damaging the environment.

Fibre is the future of the internet and the way we are building our network, using the very latest technology, means that it will be scalable up to a 10 Gigabit capacity and there will be no need to replace equipment or rebuild the network as future demand increases.

By choosing fibre we are committed to Net Zero emissions and sustainability from the very start and for the long term.

Cleaner, greener, energy efficient technology

We’ve partnered with leading industry specialists and equipment providers, equally committed to Net Zero, such as Nokia, our prime technology partner, who invest in developing cleaner, greener ways of working and create world leading energy efficient products.

As a result, we are using the very latest equipment to build our network end-to-end. From our network hubs and exchanges to home Wi-Fi routers and Beacons we aim to reduce energy consumption and provide the best customer experience.

Building our network in a sustainable way

We’re committed to building our infrastructure sustainably and with minimum disruption to the communities we’re working in.

We are reusing existing infrastructure where possible and where we do need to build new, we aim to keep our assets under ground limiting the environmental impact..

For example, we re-use underground ducts and telegraph poles, and rather than use above ground green street cabinets, we install underground boxes to house our network equipment. As well as needing less maintenance and increasing security, this reduces the impact on the local environment.  Inevitably there will be some build works but we aim to work together with the local communities and to minimise these as much as we can.

Our environmental commitment & focus

As a new business, started in 2021, sustainability is part of our DNA. From the outset, we have been committed to creating a business that protects our planet’s valuable resources. We are always seeking opportunities to use less energy, waste less materials and streamline our processes to support a greener future for everyone.

We have deliberately chosen to work with investors, who target investment in sustainable businesses, and partners who will help us to achieve this goal and who themselves are committed to and can demonstrate their ability to work sustainably.

Sustainability is at our very core, in the way we think and the choices we make, and this is reflected in our day-to-day business practices. We encourage our employees and create opportunities for them to innovate and develop ways of reducing energy consumption and minimising or recycling waste.

We’re committed to:

  • Achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, or sooner.

    o   Read and download our Carbon Reduction Plan here.

  • Actively monitoring, managing and publicly reporting our energy use and carbon reduction on a regular basis.

  • Embedding our environmental commitments throughout our organisation and with our people.

We’re focused on four key areas to improve our sustainability credentials overtime:

1. Energy efficiency within our network and the equipment we provide to our customers

2. Improving our energy consumption and waste management within our offices and vehicles

3. Reduce our carbon emissions from commuting and business travel

4. Working with our supply chain on upstream environmental opportunities to reduce emissions and improve waste management

Managing & monitoring:

LightSpeed is a new entrant to the market founded in 2021.  We have started collecting and reporting our carbon emissions and have calculated a baseline using current data available to us to demonstrate our commitment to the UK Government’s target to be net zero by 2050.  We will begin recording our emissions going forward and updating our Carbon Reduction Plan annually.

Our baseline year emissions:

EMISSIONS

TOTAL (tCO²e)

Scope 1

44 tCO²e

Scope 2

6 tCO²e

Scope 3

341 tCO²e

Sources:

• 254 tCO²e Business travel

• 87 tCO²e Employee commute

Total Emissions

Total tonnes of CO²e: 391 tCO²e

Total tonnes of CO²e in Scope 1 & Scope 2: 50 tCO²e

Total tonnes of CO²e per employee in Scope 1 & Scope 2: 0.6 tCO2ee

Continually looking for better ways for our environment;

As a new business we have been able to set up our organisation with sustainability at front of mind which is reflected in our base line data.  Now we are defining our ‘Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050’ strategy but have already started to work on a number of initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint:

For example, this year we are committed to improving energy consumption and waste management within our offices and vehicles by:

  • Moving to all renewable energy, where we contract directly with our suppliers, by the end of 2022.

  • Improved energy efficiency of our Grade 2 listed offices by installing insulation, secondary glazing and upgraded lighting to low energy (LED).

  • Reduced carbon emissions from commuting & travel through our investment in cloud based business systems that enable flexible working and where essential to be office based, hire people locally. 

  • Providing electric car chargers in our office car park and at the homes of company car drivers and provide fully electric vehicles where it is practical to do so (subject to range/charging infrastructure in areas we operate)

  • Supplementing our electricity supply with our own solar energy.

  • Providing our people with the education and means to be more environmentally aware to easily reduce energy consumption and recycle waste materials.

  • Encouraging our landlords to provide renewable solutions where energy is provided to us.

  • Supporting initiatives to improve recharging infrastructure in areas we operate.

As we continue our progress to achieving net zero by 2050 we will focus on;

  • Implementing a sustainable transport policy and shifting to fully electric company vehicles

  • Working with our partners and supply chain on upstream environmental opportunities through energy saving, use of materials and managing/minimising waste

  • Improving energy efficiency within our network and the equipment we use & provide to our customers through continual improvements/reduction in power consumption and improved lifespan and recycling options for our/our customers electronic equipment