Smaller Market Telecoms Companies Struggle to Compete on Sustainability

A new report on sustainability in the U.S. telecoms market finds that leading telecoms providers outperform their smaller competitors in sustainability performance and sustainable products and services offerings.

The report, issued by independent analyst firm Verdantix, finds that AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon, all companies with relatively large market share in the U.S. (32.1%, 15.4%, and 36.5% in the U.S. in 2011, respectively), have outpaced smaller providers on the sustainability front.

"Smaller operators like CenturyLink, Level 3, EarthLink and Windstream have not invested as much as their larger competitors," said Phil Sayers, Principal Analyst at Verdantix. "These providers score poorly on corporate sustainability and service capability due to limited portfolios of sustainable telecoms solutions, embryonic corporate sustainability programs and minimal sustainability product marketing."

Both Level 3 and Windstream fail to provide information about CSR activities on their corporate websites, while CenturyLink and EarthLink provide token information about community relations and corporate giving.

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Harry Stevens is a Media Consultant for 3BL Media / Justmeans. After earning his Bachelors of Arts in international relations from the University of Puget Sound, Harry moved to Guatemala to do business development for Mercado Global, a fair trade fashion organization. Harry has written on social enterprise, sustainable finance, and fair trade for a number of popular blogs, including Justmeans and The Fair Trade Times. A serial road-tripper, Harry has been to forty-seven of the forty-eight contiguous states, and is actively seeking an excuse to visit Oklahoma. You can follow Harry on Twitter: @Harry_Stevens