Networks that carry the Apple iPhone including Orange and Vodafone were awarded the 2nd and 3rd places in an evaluation of Europe’s greenest mobile operators. The study carried out by ABI Research saw Deutsche Telecom claim the top spot.

Under the innovation category the networks were measured their direct or indirect impact on green innovations for the supplier value chain, their green Research and Development efforts, their smart grid networks and their use of innovative metrics for the measurement of carbon reduction.

In the implementation category each network was measured according to their green network infrastructure, green initiatives and how green their IT operations are.

The research also looked at the network’s use of green packaging, green logistics fleets, whether they added green content onto their handsets and how environmentally friendly their buildings and facilities are.

New iPhone carrier Vodafone was commended for its green efforts despite the size of the company and Orange showed initiative in terms of measuring its own environmental impact through innovative internal tools.