Ethical Broadband

Finding an ethical broadband provider

In this guide to internet broadband providers, we take a closer look at the energy use of connecting to the internet, how brands are powering their data centres, workers’ rights issues in big (and small) tech, and what’s in your router. We also spotlight local providers and examine what an ethical broadband provider looks like. 

The guide covers the 'big four' UK providers (BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media), as well as a range of small eco green providers, and some new entrants to the market. And with over 80 points separating those at the top from the bottom, and quite a few mid-range brands, there is scope to find a greener broadbrand provider to match your ethics. 

Carbon impacts of broadband

Spotting the green which isn’t greenwashing when it comes to broadband means paying attention to where companies source their energy for their network infrastructure, as well as any products such as routers.

On top of a physical infrastructure of cables, being connected to the internet relies on data centres that are at the core of internet connectivity – physical facilities that process, store, and manage enormous volumes of data. There are different types of data centres, including on-premises, cloud, and managed sites. As of March 2024, there are over 5,000 data centres in the US alone, the most of any country. The UK currently has a reported 514.

Energy efficiency and how data centres are powered – from fossil fuels or renewables – is a core concern when considering the environmental impacts associated with the internet.

Many data centres operate using fossil fuels and are responsible for large emissions, with the International Energy Agency estimating that energy use from data centres accounted for 1.5% of global electricity use in 2022.

How are brands powering their data centres?

GreenNet and Green ISP were the two companies that had the most publicly available information on their data centres.

GreenNet’s servers are located in a London data centre which buys its electricity from Scottish Power Renewables, generated from British onshore and off-shore wind, tidal, and wave power sources. Its other servers are also powered by renewable energy.

Green ISP uses renewable energy for its data centres, through solar power and geothermal power.

Gigaclear says that it uses 100% renewable energy for its data centres, but was marked down through its ultimate investment owner, M&G plc, for its policy on thermal coal.

Virgin Media O2 says that it uses EkkoSense software to improve the energy efficiency of its data centres.

Comcast (Sky, NOW) briefly mentioned an aim to use renewable energy for its data centres in future.

Most companies had published no information about their data centres:

• BT
• Earth Broadband
• KKR (Hyperoptic)
• Midcounties Co-operative (Your Co-op)
• TalkTalk
• Telecom Plus (Utility Warehouse, 1p Broadband)
• Vodafone
• Zen

Brand ratings for climate 

Our Climate category rated companies on transparency about energy use and data centres, clear reporting, action on a company’s own operations, and its past action as well as targets for the future.

We also look for prominent misleading messaging about climate.

BT corners more than a quarter of the broadband market in the UK, so its policies matter. However, BT talked about purchasing renewable energy certificates (RECs) rather than sourcing renewables directly. Despite its own “concerns that the REC scheme in the UK is no longer operating effectively with low market transparency, high volatility on pricing and limited evidence of how it is supporting the UK’s transition to net zero”, in the same breath it said that such certificates form “a key part of our plans”.

As we know from our guide to energy suppliers, switching to a renewable tariff which largely relies on certificates doesn't mean a reduction in CO2.

The BT Group, together with its subsidiary Openreach, operates one of the largest commercial vehicle fleets in the UK with over 33,000 vehicles on the road. Of these, 4100 are electric vehicles with an aim of a fully electric fleet by 2031.

High scorer Zen lacked detailed discussion about its action on carbon management but had detailed scope reporting and emissions reduction targets that were approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. Vodafone is in a similar boat.

At the bottom of the table, Hyperoptic's backer (KKR) has an energy investment portfolio of which 66% is in fossil fuels, with 64.9m tonnes of emissions, according to the 2024 Private Equity Climate Risks Report.

Saving Earth by … planting trees?

Earth Broadband provided no information on climate actions such as emission reductions apart from its tree planting activities in Madagascar. Though there’s no denying the importance of appropriate reforestation, a company trying to fight climate change solely with tree planting is merely carbon offsetting and can be seen as creating an illusion of immediate impact without necessarily being effective. Green ISP plants trees too, but also operate on renewable energy, using offsetting as just one part of an overall approach.

Earth Broadband is a relatively new micro-company, founded in 2022. Its slogan is “Fast broadband that helps the Earth” – a weighty claim. It says that when you become a customer, that translates to planting one tree per month through its “trusted reforestation partners”, though it doesn’t say who they are. The company’s website says that the idea for it came from the founder’s holiday to Bali, where he was “hoping to soak up the sun on its dreamy beaches, dive into its rich culture, and enjoy some delicious local cuisine. But, plot twist! When he landed, he saw first-hand how climate change is giving Bali a real hard time”. 

Beyond this, and some figures on tree planting (it says it has planted 29,346 trees so far), it’s pretty difficult to find any concrete details about its activities and operations – its blog says a lot without saying much at all. We could have caught the company at an unlucky point in time, as it also says “We have recently updated our website and are preparing a video for our Impact & Story page. Please check back soon!” However, tree planting aside, for its company name it disappoints. 

Having said all this, the company is still better than some others out there. 

Different broadband packages

In December 2024, we searched speed and type of broadband packages on company websites. Although Vodafone and Three will be merging in the first half of 2025, at the time of writing both companies still had separate websites offering broadband products under each separate brand therefore these were included separately in the table. 

Broadband here is taken to mean home broadband – where mobile broadband is offered this has been explicitly stated. For explanations of full- and part-fibre see our jargon buster at the end of the guide.

Note: Unless specified, all go up to 900-1000 Mbps (which is the same as 1 Gbps), with some going higher.

*NOW's part-fibre broadband is no longer available for new customers. For new customers it only offers full-fibre broadband.
**We thought this looked pretty high but this is what is stated on Vodafone's website. 

Other companies using the BT/Openreach network

Some companies in the guide use BT's Openreach’s network infrastructure. This includes some of the smaller brands like Earth Broadband, Green ISP, GreenNet, and Zen Internet, as well as the likes of TalkTalk and Sky.

According to the Openreach website, over 650 internet service providers rely on its network, and it’s the biggest broadband network in the UK with over 29,000 engineers.

Where the network infrastructure already exists, there is no need and no means for a small company to rebuild what is already there. What differentiates companies is the final product, including the broadband service, data centres, customer service, and router.

So, you can still choose to support a company whose ethics you align with, regardless of whether it relies on pre-existing Openreach infrastructure.

Environmental impact of routers

Despite sitting in millions of households, broadband routers are an overlooked piece of electrical equipment when it comes to corporate responsibility. We barely found any policies or information on toxic chemicals, waste management, and conflict minerals (tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold) of companies’ routers, showing a disappointing lack of transparency and responsibility for the environmental and human costs involved.

A large percentage of the minerals used in electronics are sourced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has seen low-scale conflict for decades. Companies with policies for such minerals include BT, Sky, and Vodafone.

Commonly used additives for plastics, such as phthalates, are now considered as substances of very high concern according to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). When these substances degrade into the environment, they can enter the systems of plants, animals, marine life and eventually the food system.

Recycle or refurbish old routers

One in seven households in the UK has two or more old routers that aren’t being used. That’s a whopping 12 million routers gathering dust, just in the UK.

You can find out where to take your old router and other electricals on the Recycle Your Electricals website in the UK.

Most companies now only loan routers, so they need to be returned when you change your contract. Individual providers will typically have details on their website about how to return your old router. Internet routers fall under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations, meaning that old routers will go through a recycling process rather than being thrown away.

Some companies now actually refurbish routers for new customers, including BT, Vodafone, and Zen.

TCO certification of routers?

TCO offers an independent certification scheme for electronics which means that equipment has been checked against an accepted chemicals list, as well as met a level of labour standards. The TCO stresses that, rather than replacing problem chemicals with others that are also questionable, we need to shift to researched substances which are considered safe.

Although the TCO lists certified laptops and mobile phones, amongst other equipment, there are unfortunately no TCO-certified routers yet. This highlights the fact that broadband routers are a neglected area in electronics, despite companies supplying millions of customers with equipment.

Which broadband providers are owned by another company?

There have been several mergers in the telecoms industry in recent years, with more to follow. Some of the brands in this guide are owned by larger companies. The table below shows who ultimately owns of some of the broadband providers.

Tax avoidance and broadband providers

Broadband providers seem reluctant to pay their fair share of tax.

Shockingly, half the companies in this guide scored 0 for likely use of tax avoidance strategies.

Exceptions to this include Midcounties Co-operative (Your Co-op) which has the Fair Tax mark, meaning it has been independently verified as paying the right amount of corporation tax.

Earth Broadband, Green ISP, GreenNet, Telecom Plus (Utility Warehouse), and Zen were not marked down in our tax rating as they don’t have any subsidiaries in tax havens and only operate in the UK.

Broadband speeds

The UK average internet speed in 2024 was 148 Mbps according to the Fair Internet report.

The advertised speed to your router will be higher than speed using wifi, but you don't necessarily need super fast speeds.

Moneysupermarket says "In general, a minimum download speed of 10 Mbps is good enough for everyday activities, such as browsing the internet, e-mails and social media."

"If you work from home or enjoy streaming HD video or gaming – along with other members of your household – you could consider superfast or ultrafast speeds of anything between 60-1000 Mbps."

For streaming on just one device at a time "30 Mbps will be more than enough".

Price comparison

In the table below we show a range of broadband prices for the cheapest to most expensive deals shown on company websites, based on the price for a 12-month contract for home broadband unless stated otherwise. Prices were checked in December 2024. 

Some prices weren’t instantly available and required a postcode to be entered. Where this was the case the postcode of the author was used and may show different results compared to other regions in the UK.

It’s always worth phoning or checking on providers’ individual websites exactly what their terms and conditions are and what contract lengths are offered to suit your needs. 

Social tariffs, for people who are receiving state benefits and may be eligible for discounted broadband, were checked on Faster Broadband, Ofcom, and company websites.

* 18-month contract only
** 24-month contract
*** £21 for 24 months or £28 for rolling 1 month contract
^ EE and Hyperoptic offered discounts if you bought into longer contracts. 

Government grants for broadband installation

If you have a slow internet connection (defined as a download speed of less than 100 Mbps by the UK government, but check according to local definitions where you live), or have no existing coverage and there are no future plans for infrastructure, you may be eligible to apply for a government grant to cover the costs for installation of high speed broadband.

What is available depends on where you live:

• England: you may benefit from the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.
• Northern Ireland: the UK government is currently planning to roll out its nationwide broadband plans to Northern Ireland and “expects to appoint a contractor before the end of 2024”. As of December 2024, we couldn’t find an update on this.
• Scotland: you may benefit from the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.
• Wales: the Access Broadband Cymru grant scheme is currently paused but due to resume in the near future after a review.
   

Company ethos

The majority of companies we rated scored very poorly for Company Ethos (0-10/100), with a few exceptions.

• Green ISP received points for being a not-for-profit and for reducing environmental impacts being core to its business.
• GreenNet matched this and also had equal pay
• Your Co-op is a cooperative
• Zen Internet is a B-corp

On the flip side, large broadband providers were marked down for things like excessive pay and involvement in fossil fuels or the defence sector.

Comcast Corporation (Sky, NOW) was marked down for its whopping $35m pay check to its director. Hyperoptic’s investment parent KKR’s highest paid director received a staggering $49,959,449 in 2023. 

Gigaclear is another company owned by a large investment company, M&G plc, which has some positive investment policies in areas such as weapons but it did not totally rule out thermal coal.

BT lost points for its involvement in the defence sector and its services to military bases. 

Consumer satisfaction

Both Which? and Trustpilot highlighted Sky and Virgin Media as among the worst quality broadband providers.

For those considering switching to a more ethical broadband provider, but wary about how good the connection might be, we’ve briefly looked into publicly available reviews for some of the higher scoring companies.

These brands tend to be micro-companies, and most did not feature on Which? or Trustpilot. We looked at other publicly available reviews for them, though there are very few and may not be representative, so you might want to take these with a pinch of salt and do your own research too.

• Green ISP: One Google review and six reviews on ISP Review, its reviews average 4 out of 5 stars.
• GreenNet: Two people on Review Centre 100% recommend GreenNet.
• Your Co-op: Receives 4 out of 5 stars from 220 reviews in the past year on Feefo.
• Zen Internet: This was a top-scorer from Which? Magazine when it rated broadband providers in 2024. It is rated 4.5 out of 5 on Trustpilot (12,137 reviews).

Factors including what time of day you use your broadband (peak time is between 8pm and 10pm), how many people are in your household, and where you live also affects what kind of service you receive, which is true within urban areas as well as urban versus rural.
 

Workers in the broadband industry

If a company supplies own-brand equipment, we look for details on how it manages workers’ rights in its supply chains.

Earth Broadband, Green ISP, GreenNet, and Zen Internet use third-party routers and didn’t have a significant supply chain for building a network, therefore weren’t expected to have detailed workers’ policies for their supply chains compared to companies that did.

In its modern slavery statement, broadband giant BT said that it buys from around 9,000 direct suppliers in over 100 countries. Its supplier spend was £14.7bn in 2023/24. Despite meeting some basic criteria for the workers rating, it wasn’t detailed and didn’t score well.

In 2022, Vodafone faced a high-profile discrimination case, after an LGBTQ+ worker was harassed by management including being told she looked like a "normal lassie" despite being gay and being asked to explain lesbian sex. The employee received a £30,000 payout. Rhys Wyborn, a partner at Shakespeare Martineau law firm, says that while this was a “particularly high-profile case involving Vodafone”, it serves as a lesson that employees at any firm should be protected against discrimination.

Gigaclear provided a lot of detail on its website about its workers as part of its modern slavery statement. It received points for ongoing visits to its suppliers and having a system in place to monitor workers’ rights in its supply chain (mainly its network build suppliers). It provided details about its supplier onboarding process, and it provides training for its employees which is refreshed annually.

Energy use and the internet 

Overall estimates of the carbon impacts of the internet differ dramatically due to a lack of transparency, what people think should be included in the calculation, mixed in with the ever-changing rate of energy efficiency.

In saying this, how you use the internet as well as the tech device that connects you to the internet have a larger influence on overall impacts.

For example, one of the most data-intensive activities is streaming video, though mainstream media headlines often report inaccurate overestimations that often do not correlate to peer-reviewed calculations. The International Energy Agency calculated, in 2019, that one hour of streaming video used 36g of CO2. This means that four hours of streaming video would total 144g of CO2. UK carbon emissions are currently around 12kg of CO2e per person a day. So, even if you were streaming four hours of video a day, that’s just over 1% of your daily impact.

This study didn’t specify which device streaming was occurring on (read more about the impact of your chosen device below). Watching on TV screens requires more energy than portable devices.

All studies seem to agree on one thing, though – looking at the bigger picture, using the internet is not going to be a major part of your carbon footprint.

Energy usage of internet-enabled devices

From a UK perspective, a bigger issue than the impact of using the internet is the impact of the device that you’re using the internet on. The manufacturing process of phones, laptops, and desktop computers involves sourcing materials often from many different countries, transportation, and production, as well as continuous charging when in use. There is also the impact of disposal.

The University of Oxford estimates that over a six-year period, a desktop computer produces annual emissions of 778kg CO2e, where around 85% of this will come from manufacture and transportation.

Similarly, the Carbon Trust estimates that around 80% of a smartphone’s emissions come from production and manufacture.

So, while cutting down the time devices are on and reflecting on how you use the internet is worth it, avoiding buying new devices may be one of the most effective actions in terms of cutting the carbon impact related to internet use.

Our article on buying secondhand and refurbished tech devices has more information on how to find refurbished tech.

Closing the digital skills divide

Whether it’s wanted or not, having internet access has become an essential part of life in order to access services and education.

However, according to the Digital Poverty Alliance, over 19 million people are digitally excluded in the UK and 16% of the population are unable to perform basic online tasks. Age UK figures show that, in 2023, almost 6 million people aged 65+ were unable to complete basic tasks online or did not use the internet at all. NHS Digital estimates 4.8 million people never go online. 14% of households with children lack a parent who is able to use online systems to engage with their child’s school.

Barriers include factors such as internet access, having appropriate equipment, affordability, skills, accessibility and design of services, and awareness of digital services.

If you do know how to do basic tasks online, volunteering to offer support or share your knowledge of basic digital skills can be transformative for those who have never sent an email or used online services. Check your local Age UK branch, local library, or other charities near you that are looking for volunteers for digital skills.

Jargon buster 

Confused by all the terms and acronyms? Here are the main ones you may come across when reading up on broadband issues.

ADSL broadband solely relies on copper cables from telephone lines to deliver an internet connection. Data is transmitted through electricity.

Fibre broadband uses fibre-optic cables instead of copper cables to deliver data. It typically produces a faster and more reliable internet service compared to its copper counterpart. Data is transmitted through light.

Fixed wireless broadband relies on the connection between a building such as a home or office and a provider’s tower which broadcasts radio signals back to the building for its internet.

Full-fibre broadband means that the cables and connections used are solely fibre-optic.

FTTC stands for fibre to the cabinet. Fibre-optic cables are used to reach a cabinet on someone’s
street, which is then connected to an individual house through copper cables. This is part-fibre broadband and requires a phone line.

FTTP stands for fibre to the premises. Only fibre-optic cables are used to directly connect a given building. This is full-fibre broadband.

Gigabit internet is essentially superfast broadband, with download speeds up to 1 Gbps (translating to 1,000 megabits of data per second, or Mbps).

Internet download speed is a measure of how quickly you receive data, such as streaming or browsing online, measured in Mbps.

Internet upload speed is a measure of how quickly you can send out data online, including video calls and uploading images online, also measured in Mbps.

ISP means internet service provider, which is any company that provides a connection to the internet.

Part-fibre broadband partly relies on copper cables, as well as fibreoptic cables. This requires a phone line. See FFTC above.

Satellite broadband relies on the use of a small satellite attached to a building for connection to the internet.