Vodafone Group Plc ESG addendum
31
Protecting our Planet
Empowering People
Building Trust
Other information
Closing the digital divide We seek to democratise access to the internet and get everyone connected regardless of who they are and where they live, working to build universal access and help our customers and communities benefit from digitalisation. Our strategy focuses on three key aims: closing the digital divide by increasing mobile broadband coverage and improving access to devices and data, empowering customers through digitalisation of key services and supporting vulnerable communities through Vodafone Foundation. 4G and 5G population coverage This KPI measures the proportion of the nationwide population that is within range of a 4G or 5G mobile network with sufficient radio signal strength in outdoor scenarios for a user’s mobile device to remain connected to the network and be able to receive downstream (from the Internet to the device) data at a throughput rate of at least 1Mbps. A data rate of at least 1Mbps is considered as the minimum required for users to connect to the Internet for the purposes of web-browsing, using online applications as well as to provide a basic level of video streaming. As the data rate on a mobile device is directly linked to the radio signal strength it receives, we are able to calculate the minimum signal strength required to support the minimum threshold of 1Mbps. We use radio planning tools to map out the population spread and densities as well as terrain criteria by using 3rd party databases containing this information for a specific country or
region. We use this tool to identify optimum locations to build a new radio base station site as well as to optimise the existing network to ensure our customers enjoy a reliable and consistent data experience. By mapping all our radio base station sites and their individual technical characteristics such as antenna direction and radio signal strength for example within the tool, we are able to calculate the proportion of the population within a country or geographic area who will typically obtain sufficient radio signal strength for their device to maintain a downstream data rate of at least 1Mbps. Number of sites deployed The total number of physical site locations where radio access network equipment is deployed and is carrying live customer traffic on Vodafone’s 4G or 5G radio access network. This includes sites managed by Vodafone or those by our active network sharing partners who support Vodafone's 4G or 5G service. On-net gigabit connections We report the number of fixed access networks in Europe where the Group owns and manages the active equipment which is capable of downloading data at a rate of at least one gigabit per second (1Gps). We use our inventory database of fixed access networks to identify the number of gigabit capable connections; industry standard DOCSIS 3.1 and Fibre to the Premise (FTTP). 5G availability We report the number of countries where the Group provides a commercially live 5G service from at least one radio access site
Empowering people
31 Closing the digital divide 32 Financial inclusion
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