Every time we buy a new phone, along with our old handsets we throw away our chargers, even when they are working absolutely fine. Other than causing inconvenience, it even adds to the overall e-waste in the world. Fixing up a solution, the European commission brought together major handset manufacturers to agree on a micro-USB mobile charger standard for Europe.
The commission appointed the European Standardisation Organisations CEN-CENELEC and ETSI to formulate European standards for a common charger. The two committees have finally managed to do publish the harmonized standards for a universal charger. Handset manufacturers that have signed the agreement in June 2009 are Nokia, Apple, Samsung, Research In Motion (RIM), Motorola Mobility, LGE, Sony Ericsson, Qualcomm, Huawei Technologies, Emblaze Mobile, NEC, TCT Mobile (Alcatel), Texas Instruments and Atmel (IP/09/1049).
“I am very happy that the European Standardisation Bodies have met our request to develop within a short space of time the technical standards necessary for a common mobile phone charger based on the work done by industry. Now it is time for industry to show its commitment to sell mobile phones for the new charger. The common charger will make life easier for consumers, reduce waste and benefit businesses. It is a true win-win situation,” asserted, European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship.
Moving towards ‘a global common mobile phone charger’, the standards are designed for handsets that are data enabled which means those that can be connected to a computer. It promotes interoperability, a charger that can be used with all data-enabled phones which have been manufactured by different companies. The standards ensure that safety risks and electro-magnetic emissions are curtailed and that they adequate resistance to external interference.
European Commission anticipates the first common chargers and compatible mobile phones to be out in the European market by the first few months of 2011.