Universal phone charger comes to Europe two years early
The European Union says it has the agreement of all the major cellphone manufacturers, including Apple, to begin offering a universal charger from next year. That’s a couple of years ahead of previous targets, though it may be a couple of years before all handsets are compatible.
The GSMA, the main industry body for cellphones, had agreed to the move in principle in February. In a move announced at the Mobile World Congress event, it agreed to adopt the mini-USB connection as the standard. That should be relatively painless for manufacturers as so many handsets already have such a socket already in place for data transfers.
Today the EU announced that 10 major firms, responsible for more than 90 per cent of handsets, had formally signed up to the system. This includes Apple, which had been a notable absentee from the February announcement.
The original agreement had been to have the majority of phones on the system within three years. Today’s deal speeds up that process: chargers and compatible handsets should be on the market next year, with nearly all phones sporting the connection inside three years. (The only exceptions should be with owners who hold on to their handsets for longer than average before replacing or upgrading.)
There was no mention in the EU agreement of environmental matters. In the February agreement, the GSMA spoke of members selling an energy-efficient charger which would cut power use by as much as 50 per cent.
Gunter Verhuegen, vice president of the EU’s administrative wing, said he’d originally planned to push for a universal charger for all mobile devices, but that this was a more practical first step as there were technical barriers to having a system which worked for both phones and computers.
It’s worth noting that though the firms involved have made a formal agreement with the EU, it’s not a legally binding deal so there may be no official comeback against any manufacturers who drag their heels on the switchover.
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