You will be able to charge any new mobile phone from the same universal charger beginning on 1 January 2012.
We all need to buy a charger with every new mobile phone. What if it is possible to charge a phone from any available charger? This would not only make life easier for mobile phone consumers, but would be good for the environment too. The GSMA and 17 leading mobile operators and manufacturers said at the Mobile World Congress that they are committed to implementing a cross-industry standard for a universal charger for new mobile phones. The aim of the initiative, led by the GSMA, is to ensure that the mobile industry adopts a common format for mobile phone charger connections and energy-efficient chargers resulting in an estimated 50 per cent reduction in standby energy consumption; old chargers currently generate more than 51,000 tons of waste a year.
he initial group of companies who have joined the GSMA's UCS initiative include 3 Group, AT&T, KTF, LG, mobilkom austria, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone – some of the world's largest mobile operators and manufacturers who together are committed to making a universal charging solution a reality up to 2012 and beyond.
The group has set an ambitious target that by 2012 a universal charging solution (UCS) will be widely available in the market worldwide and will use Micro-USB as the common universal charging interface. The group agreed that by 1 January 2012, the majority of all new mobile phone models available will support a universal charging connector and the majority of chargers shipped will meet the high efficiency targets set out by the OMTP (Open Mobile Terminal Platform), the industry body who developed the technical requirements behind UCS.
"The mobile industry has a pivotal role to play in tackling environmental issues, and this programme is an important step that could lead to huge savings in resources, not to mention convenience for consumers," said Rob Conway, CEO and member of the board, GSMA. "There is enormous potential in mobile to help people live and work in an eco-friendly way and with the backing of some or the biggest names in the industry, this initiative will lead the way."
A universal charger will also make life much simpler for the consumer, who will be able to use the same charger for future handsets, as well as being able to charge their mobile phone anywhere from any available charger. UCS chargers will also include a 4-star or higher efficiency rating, which is up to three times more energy-efficient than an unrated charger.
Furthermore, with potentially 50 per cent less chargers being manufactured each year, the industry can expect to reduce greenhouse gases in manufacturing and transporting replacement chargers by 13.6 to 21.8 million tonnes a year.
"3 welcomes this initiative to reduce the environmental impact of the mobile industry. By working together, the mobile industry can make a significant difference to the number of chargers produced, shipped and lying around our homes and offices along with the amount of energy consumed whilst charging. It can only make the whole process of charging up a mobile much more consumer friendly and 3 will work with our handset partners to target 75 per cent of our handset range to be UCS compliant by the end of 2012," said Nigel Field, general manager, devices and applications, 3 Group.
"This initiative is in line with our overall environmental programme as the universal chargers will be highly energy efficient and will therefore reduce the carbon waste. We estimate that by 2012, the majority of new mobile phones will be universal charging solution compliant," said Terry Kramer, group strategy and business improvement director, Vodafone.
