Every Single Act Counts

With almost 18,000 people working for the A1 Group, there is a lot of potential for spreading sustainable spirit. Some of the measures presented below have direct impact on our ESG goals, while others simply contribute to stop climate change or support nature and environment.

Environment, Society and Corporate Governance at A1 Bulgaria

E! At A1 Bulgaria, we have two well-developed recycling centers, where we refurbish and recycle thousands of end-user equipment, like Set-Top-Boxes, modems, etc. We also have five hybrid base stations powered by solar energy thus reducing CO2 emission. As part of the recent reconstructions, the A1 headquarters has become highly energy efficient with new lighting system, insulation, facade refurbishment, A/C system, solar water heating and waste separation. Our car fleet includes hybrid models and we are also switching from diesel cars to petrol ones, which meets the Euro standards.

S! We are providing media literacy training to over 2,000 children every year and since 2019 we have also been focusing on reducing the digital gap with special sessions for adults over 55 years old as part of our »Internet for All« initiative.

G! Gender diversity is already a norm as 46% of all employees are women and we see similar alignment on managerial positions. The topic of »Compliance« is integrated in our daily business and is supported by regular awareness campaigns and trainings.

A1 Austria – »A1 Network for LGBT+ Employees & Friends«.

Günter Mandl, co-founder of the LGBT+ network: »Eva and I share a common vibe. We both are out and love our jobs in vibrant teams with an inclusive work culture. At the same time we know, that it’s not that easy for everyone: There are many LGBT+ colleagues who dare not come out at work. Some even fear a negative impact on their careers or social standing. And despite improved equality laws in Austria, there are still shortcomings in our anti-discrimination legislation.

We teamed up with a dedicated bunch of people across A1 Austria and A1 Digital and invested a lot of spare time to launch our »A1 Network for LGBT+ Employees & Friends«. Our network will specifically address LGBT+ awareness topics in our work environment. We want to boost our working culture: Everyone – irrespective of sexual orientation – can trust that A1 actively promotes a safe & supportive environment. Just bring your best self to work. That’s all that matters.«

A1 Slovenia – Every single act counts

A1 Slovenia has ingrained social responsibility in the very core of is business operations. A green work environment encourages and inspires employees to begin thinking responsibly across all of their work processes. Therefore, we use only eco-bins for separating trash in our workplace and we drink tap water.

Our headquarters in Ljubljana has a green roof, planted with sedums. The roof is energy efficient and environmentally friendly. It gives home to six beehives that employees take care of, along with our local beekeeper. We want to spread the importance of bees with various projects and initiatives both at home and abroad.

We organize clean-up drives for the A1 Team and also invite children and youths to participate. We are aware that a respectful attitude to nature is the key for the future of next generations.

A1 Belarus: #ionline

#ionline is a digital volunteer movement launched by A1 Belarus for everyone who is ready to share knowledge with those who need assistance to explore the mobile technologies’ world. For participation in the project, one has to find a person who needs to learn how to use mobile Internet technologies. The so-called volunteer needs to get registered on a project landing page https://ionline.a1.by/. Registration on the official site gives volunteers an opportunity to grant 1 GB of free Internet traffic to the subscriber, whom the volunteer plans to train. Also a special Telegram-channel, supporting the project, was launched which provides volunteers with tips how to make it easier to get acquainted with mobile technologies’ world for newcomers, as well as detailed instructions, which can be downloaded from the project’s site.

A1 Macedonia – A healthy environment for our future

At A1 Macedonia, we show our commitment to realize our corporate responsibility in many ways: In the past year, we promoted electronic payment (e-bill) to save paper. We launched our pilot project, the A1 eco-bus, and organized transport for employees in the Skopje area during the winter months to reduce the use of their own vehicles. We bought electric scooters to reach external business meetings sustainably and we replaced old, inefficient A/C systems at the intersections with digital scroll compressors to save energy. We set up separate trash boxes on each floor of our A1 building to avoid plastic and paper jars and provided glass bottles for each employee.

Within two years, we trained more than 2,000 fourth-graders in Internet safety, we created a digital brochure available online on the A1 website and plan to continue the program online.

A1 Croatia: Green@A1

In autumn 2020, A1 Croatia launched the extensive internal information campaign »Green@A1«. The campaign`s kick-off was a virtual coffee with Jiri Dvorjancansky, CEO of the Cluster Macedonia and Croatia. As part of the Green Guru Challenge, he promised to cycle to the office from now on and thus motivate the A1 team to take own measures. In addition, an animated information graphic displayed where A1 Croatia implements activities. It also provided tips where we individually can contribute to a reduced personal CO2 footprint. Green were not only the drinks served, but also the discussion topics on the internal social platform. And it wouldn’t be an innovative campaign if we didn’t contribute our technological know-how: A1 Croatia provides an IoT solution for waste management which will be donated to the Nature Park Biokovo and famous skywalk.

Vip mobile – Saving and cleaning

Commitment and concern for the environment have always been part of Vip’s strategy. Our employees care for the environment by saving energy, water and other resources. Containers for recycling paper, plastic, glass and metal are set up in the work area, while electronic waste is collected separately and recycled in accordance with legal requirements.

We are trying to increase the number of hybrid base stations that use solar and wind energy. Based on this example we want to promote the use of renewable energy sources. The development of environmental awareness among Serbian citizens will continue as part of our broader initiative »Ecomotive Serbia«. One part of the initiative was the cleaning of rivers, where around 1,000 volunteers collected more than 400 cubic meters of waste from the banks of 20 rivers throughout Serbia in just two months.