- The deutsche telekom deutsche router pushes for sustainability in consumer electronics
- The project seeks to transform old smartphones into routers
- The neocircuit router aims at 70% reuse
Deutsche Telekom explores a new way of reducing electronic waste by reusing the components of the old smartphones to build routers.
Hardwareluxx reports (originally in German), claim that Deutsche Telekom has developed the Holiday router, a device prototype that consists mainly of reused parts, in collaboration with an industrial consortium.
The prototype of the neocircuit router incorporates processors, memory chips and physical connectors from old smartphones, aimed at a circularity rate of around 70%.
Transform old smartphones into routers
Dr. Henning Never, project manager at Deutsche Telekom, believes that the neocircuit goes beyond the typical recycling of electronic waste, while Bertrand Pascual of Sagemcom considers that the reuse of smartphones processors for other applications keeps not only resources but also a financial meaning.
Deutsche Telekom has set an ambitious objective to achieve an almost complete circularity for its technologies and consumption devices by 2030. If it is widely adopted, this approach could reduce production costs by at least 20% compared to to the manufacture of new components.
This is not the only initiative that aligns the broader efforts in the brands industry like Framework and Fairphone, which promote modular conceptions to improve longevity, repairability and reuse.
The project faces challenges, as many modern devices use glued components and proprietary processors, which makes extraction and reuse difficult. Nevertheless, the Router Bécircuit should be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona on March 3.
Modular design initiatives are not new, but it’s always great to see more. In case you have missed it, I reported on the announcement of the Framework laptop, while Fairphone and nothing offer sustainable modular alternatives to the best corporate smartphone alternatives.
