Barcelona, Spain — Universal chargers for mobile phones could be widely available by 2012, resulting from a commitment by 17 leading mobile operators and the GSMA global cellular trade group, announced this week.
The GSMA is calling upon the cellular industry to adopt micro USB as the common standard interface for phone chargers and to conform to energy-efficiency targets that would cut the energy consumption of the chargers by 50 percent.
AT&T, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and T-Mobile are among those supporting the initiative announced at Mobile World Congress.
The group hopes that by Jan. 1, 2012, the majority of all new mobile phone models worldwide will support the universal charger as well as the high energy-efficiency targets
The initiative would result in about 50 percent less chargers being manufactured each year, which would reduce greenhouse gases in manufacturing and transportation.
Rob Conway, CEO of the GSMA, said, “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.”
