Mobile Mining: World’s first DSL router made from old smartphone components

• Innovative router achieves 70 percent circularity in electronics
• Mainboard, processor and memory chips from old smartphones used as "donor organs"
• Telekom has developed the first functional prototype with partners

Together with an industrial consortium consisting of Citronics, Evonik, Fairphone, Infineon, MaxLinear, Sagemcom and INC Innovation Center, Deutsche Telekom has developed a pioneering approach. This allows electronic components extracted from old devices to be used in the production of new devices. The first prototype of a DSL router is already fully functional: the NeoCircuit Router. It reduces CO2 emissions in production, keeps valuable resources like metals, precious metals, and rare earths in circulation, and reduces global resource consumption. For the NeoCircuit Router, this means:

• Reuse of central electronic components such as mainboard, processor, memory chips from an old smartphone like the Fairphone 2
• Reuse of physical connectors such as DSL and USB plugs
• Reuse of physical accessories such as cables and power plugs

In total, a degree of circularity of 70 percent has already been achieved in the electronics in the first expansion stage of the prototype. This means that well over half of all resources used come from reused or recycled sources. At the same time, the reuse of the existing processors also reduces the device’s CO2 footprint by around 50 percent and significantly reduces the amount of electronic waste. The prototype does not yet have a housing so that the electronics are visible. However, the housing would be made of 100 percent recycled material if it were realized.

“What is new is that, together with our partners, we are not relying solely on traditional electronics recycling, where large parts are still simply incinerated. Instead, we focus on reusing functional components such as processors, memory and transistors. Our approach is similar to the building blocks principle: we take used individual components and build fully functional new devices from them,” explains project manager Dr Henning Never of Deutsche Telekom. “In the design and production of end-user devices such as our NeoCircuit Router, this can become a real game-changer in the industry.”

As a corporation, Deutsche Telekom has committed to being nearly completely circular in technologies and end devices by 2030. However, the digital industry still largely operates linearly: devices are developed, built, and discarded after a short period of use, smartphones, for example, after an average of 2.5 to 3 years. The possibility to dismantle devices and reuse individual electronic components is rarely given. Devices are often glued, boards and components are not or barely removable, and many processors are designed for very specific tasks in terms of structure and software. Therefore, they are difficult to use for other tasks. It is no wonder that in 2022 alone, around 5.3 billion mobile phones became electronic waste, even though many of the electronic components used were still functional. Manufacturers need to rethink so that end-user devices are modular from the design stage and in terms of maximum recyclability.

Bertrand Pascual, VP Sales Broadband Business Solutions Sagemcom: "The rapid evolution of electronic devices presents a unique opportunity to rethink how components and materials are used. The NeoCircuit project target is to demonstrate that fully functional devices, such as routers, could be built using predominantly reused or recycled components. One example is the re-purposing of processors from mobile devices for alternative applications, extending their lifecycle and reducing the demand for new raw materials. By embracing circular design principles, we are exploring innovative ways to optimize resource efficiency and create a more sustainable production model for next-generation devices"

The prototype of NeoCircuit is a significant step towards a more circular ICT industry. The project partners aim to trigger impulses in the market with the prototype and stimulate a rethink in the design of new end devices. Implementation requires acceptance and a broad alliance within the industry. For economic scale effects to work, the expansion and functional testing of components must be automated. If successful, compared to the extraction, production, and transport of new components, cost savings of at least 20 percent would be possible.

At the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Deutsche Telekom, together with partners, invites attendees to a panel discussion on approaches to solutions and existing challenges. Start at 16:50 pm.

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