A European
Commission spokesperson said Friday that starting in January 2011,
European consumers will be able to finally purchase a standard mobile
phone charger for nearly all mobile phones sold in the 27 member state
bloc.
This move comes over a
year after major manufacturers, including Nokia, Apple, Samsung and
many other mobile companies agreed with the European Commission to
provide a single charger to reduce waste and inefficiency.
"Introduction of the
universal charger will make life much simpler for EU consumers," said
Dennis Abbott, a European Commission spokesperson. "When you discover
you've left your charger at home or work, you will be able to use
someone else's, knowing it will fit your phone. How cool is that?"
The industry agreed
that the new charger will be for all smartphones and all "data-enabled"
phones - and will use a micro-USB connector. The new universal chargers
will not cover older mobile phones.
New standard should reduce energy, waste
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Apple's iPhone will also be covered by the new agreement
"The environmental
benefits of harmonizing chargers are expected to be very significant:
reducing the number of unnecessary chargers will reduce the associated
electronic waste, which currently amounts to thousands of tons," Abbott
told Deutsche Welle. "Harmonized chargers are also expected to improve
energy-efficiency, thus reducing energy consumption."
He added that by early
next year, approximately half of the mobile phones in use across the
European Union will be covered by the new provision, and that will lead
to substantial environmental savings.
"One charger per
mobile phone leads to millions of obsolete chargers in European
households - creating more than 50,000 tons of electronic waste a year,"
he said. "I've still got six chargers from previous mobile phones in a
drawer at home."
The announcement comes
less than a month after new European Commission rules went into effect
capping the amount consumers could be charged while they were "roaming”
onto foreign mobile phone networks.
"This is a Commission
which is really dedicated to providing a better deal for the consumer
but also to ensuring that we can come up with common sense solutions,"
Abbott said.
Author: Cyrus Farivar
Editor: Sean Sinico
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5852237,00.html
