Telecom operators are making equipment repair, refurbishment and reuse a greater part of network procurement as they continue investing in 5G and fiber infrastructure. Recovering usable hardware can reduce replacement purchases, provide spare parts and extract value from equipment removed during modernization.
Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone, Telefonica and Virgin Media O2 have disclosed programmes covering network assets and customer devices. Their results show how equipment recovery is moving beyond waste management into purchasing and operational planning.
However, the financial evidence remains uneven. Operators report refurbishment volumes, procurement targets and avoided emissions more frequently than audited cost savings. Extending hardware life creates value when testing, repair and maintenance costs remain competitive with replacement.
Deutsche Telekom Builds an Internal Equipment Exchange
Deutsche Telekom’s circular economy report, covering 2025 performance, recorded approximately 2.45 million refurbished fixed-network devices and 224,077 refurbished mobile devices.
The group launched its Telekom Equipment Exchange in 2025, enabling used network technology to move between group companies and locations, excluding T-Mobile US.
Circular material use represented 14 percent of network technology procurement and 10 percent of IT equipment procurement. These measures include reused or refurbished equipment and recycled materials in new products, so they are than second-hand hardware purchasing alone.
From 2026, Deutsche Telekom plans to use its Telco Circularity Score to measure and manage progress.
An internal exchange can help procurement teams identify available equipment before placing new orders. Its financial contribution depends on whether recovered assets meet technical requirements and can be redeployed economically.
Orange Targets Refurbished Equipment for 10 Percent of Eligible CAPEX
Orange Wholesale has set a 2026 target to source 10 percent of eligible capital expenditure from refurbished equipment through its OSCAR circular economy programme.
The Orange Wholesale infrastructure lifecycle strategy places refurbishment within the purchasing process, alongside infrastructure sharing, resource efficiency and lifecycle planning.
Orange Wholesale also says network equipment accounts for 30 percent of its Scope 3 emissions, making procurement decisions relevant to its environmental footprint.
The target offers a measurable purchasing benchmark. It applies to eligible CAPEX, rather than all Orange Group capital expenditure, and should be assessed against actual delivery once results become available.
For procurement teams, this approach requires refurbished equipment to be considered during specification and supplier selection. Availability, warranties, interoperability and support determine whether recovered hardware can satisfy the same operational requirement as a new purchase.
Vodafone Handles 7,743 Tonnes of Network Equipment Waste
Vodafone’s FY2026 annual report recorded 7,743 metric tonnes of network equipment e-waste, compared with 6,686 tonnes in FY2025—an increase of approximately 15.8 percent.
The reported recovery categories included 1 percent reused and 98 percent sent to recycling partners. Vodafone attributed the higher waste volume mainly to increased equipment decommissioning.
The operator plans to expand reuse and repair initiatives, supported by an EU logistics hub intended to improve the assessment and redirection of returned equipment.
The figures show why reuse and recycling need separate treatment. Recycling recovers materials after equipment leaves service; refurbishment can preserve a functioning asset for further use.
Vodafone’s low reported reuse share indicates that most recovered equipment is entering recycling channels. Increasing redeployment will depend on the condition, compatibility and remaining useful life of the assets collected.
Virgin Media O2 Reports 5,262 Tonnes of Avoided Emissions
The Virgin Media O2 equipment recovery programme with TXO provides a detailed example of refurbishment and secondary-market procurement.
In August 2026, TXO reported 5,262 tonnes of avoided carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions from data collected over the partnership’s previous 10 years.
Of that total, 4,575 tonnes came from refurbishing recovered network assets—including switches, routers and line cards—and returning them to the telecom equipment market. Another 687 tonnes came from Virgin Media O2 purchasing replacement equipment through the secondary market.
TXO also reported recycling more than 690 tonnes of end-of-life equipment over the same period. These are cumulative results, rather than savings achieved during 2026 alone.
The programme illustrates two commercial opportunities: recovering value from surplus equipment and sourcing compatible replacements without buying new hardware. The disclosed emissions figures do not, however, establish the amount of procurement savings.
Telefonica Reuses More Than 780,000 Network Equipment Units
Telefonica’s equipment reuse disclosure states that it had reused more than 780,000 units of network equipment by 2025.
The company also reports reusing more than four million electronic devices annually across customers, operations and offices. This includes more than three million routers and set-top boxes each year.
Telefonica says reused devices represent 75 percent of collected electronic equipment, with the remaining 25 percent recycled. Its network equipment reuse activities are supported by the MAIA platform.
The categories matter: network equipment, customer routers and office electronics have different replacement costs and technical requirements. Combining their volumes into a single figure would obscure the contribution of each programme.
Standardized customer equipment can offer repeated refurbishment opportunities, while network assets require closer assessment of configuration, software compatibility and vendor support.
Customer Device Refurbishment Supports the Wider Strategy
Deutsche Telekom’s European operations also demonstrate the scale of customer device recovery.
OTE Group reported annual refurbishment capacity of 265,000 devices in 2025, including routers, network sockets and television receivers. Hrvatski Telekom refurbished 187,000 customer devices, with 138,000 rented to customers again during the year.
These activities address customer equipment rather than core mobile network infrastructure. Their procurement value comes from recovering devices that can pass testing and return to service, reducing the need to purchase replacements for every installation.
Total Ownership Costs Determine Whether Reuse Pays
The business case for refurbished telecom equipment extends beyond its purchase price. Operators need to assess testing, transport, installation, software licensing, maintenance and expected remaining service life.
Energy consumption also matters. Older hardware may be inexpensive to acquire but costly to operate, particularly where newer equipment delivers substantially better efficiency or capacity.
Vendor support and security updates are equally important. Equipment that no longer receives necessary support may create reliability or operational risks that outweigh its initial savings.
Procurement teams therefore need asset-level decisions. Hardware suitable for a spare-parts inventory may be unsuitable for a critical production deployment, while equipment removed from one network location may remain useful elsewhere.
Procurement Savings Need Clear Measurement
The disclosed programmes show that refurbishment is becoming an established part of telecom equipment management. Orange has introduced a purchasing target, Deutsche Telekom is developing internal exchange and measurement tools, and Virgin Media O2 has quantified the environmental results of long-term asset recovery.
The next measure of progress is financial: avoided purchases, repair expenditure, resale proceeds and maintenance costs over the equipment’s remaining life.
Operators that connect these figures to reliability and energy performance will be better positioned to demonstrate when extending hardware life delivers sustainable procurement savings.
FASNA SHABEER