Orange Business and Ekinops have formalized a strategic partnership centered on a rigorous decarbonization plan, marking a significant step in the telecommunications industry’s push toward a sustainable digital future. By targeting Scope 3 emissions—the indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain—the two firms are addressing the primary hurdle in global tech sustainability.
### Taming the Scope 3 Challenge
For major telecommunications players like Orange Business, the bulk of the environmental footprint is hidden within Scope 3 emissions. Recent internal data reveals that 81% of the company’s total emissions stem from the purchase of hardware, customer equipment utilization, and service-related supply chain activities. Specifically, equipment procurement and operational energy consumption by customers account for 43% of this footprint.
To combat this, the collaboration with Ekinops focuses on high-impact areas. By integrating sustainability directly into the product lifecycle, the partnership aims to move beyond simple reporting toward actionable, measurable reductions. Ekinops has committed to enhancing its carbon footprint tracking, optimizing manufacturing logistics, and redesigning products to be more modular, repairable, and ultimately, easier to recycle.
### Integrating Innovation into Network Design
The partnership is not merely an environmental audit; it is a blueprint for technological evolution. Orange Business intends to take the innovations emerging from this decarbonization effort and bake them into their own network and product architectures. This circular design approach allows for the integration of energy-efficient configurations, helping the company lower the carbon intensity of its digital services.
“This decarbonization plan reflects a true partnership focused on measurable environmental benefits,” said Sébastien Bernard, Corporate Sustainability & Risks Manager at Ekinops. “It aligns with our climate goals and elevates both companies’ environmental commitments.”
This collaborative model reflects a broader shift in the tech sector, where hardware suppliers are no longer viewed as passive vendors but as critical partners in reaching net-zero goals. As companies increasingly rely on high-performance infrastructure, the pressure to reduce the power consumption of these devices—while ensuring they remain modular to extend their useful life—is becoming a cornerstone of enterprise IT strategy.
### The Broader Digital Sustainability Trend
This initiative arrives as the telecommunications and cloud computing sectors face intensified scrutiny regarding their energy use. As the demand for AI, cloud storage, and high-speed networking grows, the hardware supporting these services must become more efficient.
Orange Business Chief Procurement Officer Sandra Servières emphasized the long-term strategic value of this move. “By working closely with partners, we can accelerate the transition to a low-carbon digital future and create lasting value for our organizations, communities, our customers, and the environment,” Servières noted.
The long-term roadmap for Ekinops includes a significant pivot toward renewable and low-carbon energy sources in the manufacturing phase. By combining these hardware improvements with Orange Business’s commitment to integrating sustainable solutions into their global network, the partnership serves as a replicable model for how service providers can manage their vendors to drive systemic change.
For the tech industry, this move underscores a changing reality: sustainability metrics are now just as vital as performance benchmarks in procurement. As Ekinops continues to refine its environmental performance tracking and modular product designs, it sets a standard for suppliers in a market that is increasingly prioritizing carbon accountability alongside digital connectivity. This alignment ensures that as infrastructure expands to support the next generation of digital tools, it does so with a lighter environmental touch.
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