AbstractMetallic carbon nanotubes are being considered as a candidate to potentially replace copper as an interconnect material in next generation nanotechnology integrated circuits.In this article, we have examined the electronic transport behavior in metallic carbon nanotubes using a self consistent nonequilibrium Green's function method. We have included the effects of electron‐phonon interactions in our model. Results show that conductivity decreases in the ballistic limit due to localized disorder effects even with a weak disorder potential. We are also able to show that optical phonons (both LO and TO modes) are the dominant mechanisms that govern the mean free path of conduction in the nanotube. Our calculations show an excellent agreement with experimental results available in the literature. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:2477–2483, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.27145