THE SUSTAINABILITY INTERVIEW
D
igital infrastructure is under unprecedented scrutiny. As economies digitise and public services move online, access to reliable connectivity has become a prerequisite for participation in modern society.
For VodafoneThree, the result of the 2025 merger between two major UK mobile network operators, this shift has become central to its sustainability agenda. At the heart of that agenda is Nicki Lyons, Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer, who is steering the organisation’ s approach to digital inclusion. The company merger created an opportunity to rethink sustainability from the ground up.
“ We brought together two organisations with similar ambitions around closing the digital divide,” Nicki says. Those ambitions have now been evolved and expanded into a single strategy that builds on Vodafone UK’ s longrunning‘ Everyone Connected’ programme, originally launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to support vulnerable communities with access to connectivity. Three Mobile, meanwhile, developed parallel initiatives addressing digital exclusion and device poverty, alongside partnerships with organisations such as Internet Matters, Good Things Foundation and Samaritans, which focus on online safety, human connection and emotional wellbeing. Combining these efforts required a structured reassessment centred around a materiality analysis, a process used to identify the most significant environmental, social and governance issues for a business.
“ It is very easy in our space to get distracted and not really achieve very much,” Nicki explains.
The result is a refined sustainability strategy, still branded as Everyone Connected, but now organised around three core pillars:
• Made for everyone
• Made to be safe
• Made to last
Each reflects a distinct dimension of VodafoneThree’ s responsibilities as a telecommunications provider.“ As the UK’ s largest mobile provider serving fixed and mobile customers, we don’ t just have a responsibility to provide customers with the best network possible, but to build responsible networks that contribute to a safe, secure and sustainable UK,” says Nicki.
Evolving a strategy from digital inclusion outwards The“ Made for everyone” pillar focuses explicitly on closing the digital divide – the gap between individuals and communities who have access to digital technologies and those who do not – and driving digital participation. Nicki is clear that this divide is more complex than geography alone.“ It is a social problem,” she says.
24 August 2026