Many a time we had to search our homes or the office to find a compatible char-ger for our mobile when it goes dead on us. The frustration of having one particular brand of mobile phone and therefore being unable to match it with another brand's mobile charger hits us on these occasions. This is due to the fact that phone companies have, for years, made differing charger sizes such that one cannot use the same mobile charger for different brands.
Incompatibility of chargers is a major inconvenience for users of mobile phones. Moreover, it leads to unnecessary electrical waste generated by switching chargers every time a mobile phone is changed, to the detriment of our environment. The European Commission has therefore requested the phone industry to propose a voluntary commitment by way of a solution to the problem. As a result major producers of mobile phones have agreed to harmonise chargers in the EU.
In a Memorandum of Understanding, which was submitted to the Commission by the industry's top names including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Apple, LG, NEC, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Samsung and Texas Instruments, the industry took on a self-commitment to provide chargers' compatibility on the basis of the micro-USB connector. The manufacture of mobile chargers will be on the basis of self-regulation rather than legislation.
The move is seen as good news for consumers, whose life will certainly be made easier and who will benefit from more efficient and cheaper chargers. Consumers will be able to purchase mobile phones without a charger, thus logically reducing their cost. They will also be able to purchase much more cost-effective stand-alone chargers than is currently the case.
This introduction will have a positive environmental impact because consumers will no longer have to throw away chargers when buying new phones. Mobile phone users will instead be able to swap chargers and keep their old ones regardless of whom they buy their phone from. The environmental benefits of harmonising chargers are expected to be very important: reducing the number of chargers unnecessarily sold will reduce the associated generated electronic waste, which currently amounts to thousands of tons. Harmonised chargers are also expected to improve energy efficiency, thus reducing energy consumption.
In addition, the industry is expected to create new EU standards intended to ensure continued safe charger use. With the new standard, safe use of new mobile phones as well as avoidance of radio interference problems will be guaranteed.
Harmonisation will not preclude innovation in the fast moving mobile phone market by fixing a certain technology forever. Therefore, when the time has come, the industry will adapt to future charging technologies in a harmonised way.
The harmonisation of chargers will apply to mobile phones which support USB data exchange, commonly known as data-enabled. It is expected however that from next year most future mobile phones will be data-enabled during the same time when the first generation of new inter-chargeable mobile phones will be available in Europe.
Dr Grech is an associate with Guido de Marco & Associates and heads its European Law Division.
jgrech@demarcoassociates.com