Do mobile phone and internet bills count in our carbon footprint?

Yes, as a purchased service in Scope 3 Category 1. Telecom invoices rarely show energy, so most companies use a spend-based estimate. Data centre and cloud services are separate lines. The phones and routers you buy are Category 2 if capitalised, or Category 1 if expensed.

What the bill covers

• Mobile plans and leased lines: a service, Category 1, usually by spend.
• Some operators publish emissions per subscriber or per terabyte; use that if your operator does and state it.
• Cloud hosting and SaaS: separate Category 1 lines with their own methods.

Devices

• Phones, laptops and routers capitalised as assets: Category 2.
• Low-value devices expensed: Category 1.
• Leased devices: see the leased assets rules.

Keep it simple

Telecom is a small line for most companies. A spend-based estimate with the factor source and price year is enough; revisit only if your telecom spend is large.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads purchase and service invoices; it uses quantities where the invoice shows them and otherwise gives a spend-based estimate, labelled as spend-based with wider uncertainty.

• SaaS subscriptions in Scope 3
• Leased laptops and servers
• Spend-based Scope 3: GST, inflation, currency

Sources: GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard, Category 1 purchased goods and services

Last reviewed 2026-10-20.