The days of scrabbling around to find the correct mobile phone charger are to end after a landmark agreement between the leading manufacturers.
Companies including Apple, Nokia and Sony Ericsson yesterday promised to start offering phones that fit a universal charger from next year.
The move comes in response to anger from consumers who are landed with chargers with different connections for each phone bought.
Say goodbye to all these phone chargers. Mobile companies have agreed to go universal.
Most are thrown away, creating unnecessary cost and waste. There are more than 30 different chargers in circulation in member states of the European Union, which estimates that 51,000 are lying unused.
The other seven companies to sign the deal are Motorola, LG, NEC, Samsung, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm and the BlackBerry maker Research in Motion.
The first generation of phones that use the same Micro-USB connection will go on sale from next year.
The move comes against a background of legal threats from the European Commission. EU Industry commissioner Gunter Verheugen said: ‘I am very pleased the industry has found an agreement, which will make life much simpler for consumers.
‘They will be able to charge mobile phones anywhere from the new common charger.
‘This also means considerably less electronic waste because people will no longer have to throw away chargers when buying new phones.’
Pledge: The move, which will see mobile phone makers offer a universal charger, was announced by European Commission Vice President Guenter Verheugen
MEP Malcolm Harbour, the Conservative consumer spokesman, said: ‘The days of drawers full of useless old mobile phone chargers will soon be over. Common sense has prevailed.
‘This is a simple agreement that will have an extremely positive impact on users’ lives. We will no longer have to worry about forgetting our chargers and having to ask around to find one.
‘This agreement will also encourage more chargers to be recycled, preventing electronic waste.
‘Mobile phone companies should consider whether a new charger is now needed with every handset if there is a possibility that an old one can be recycled.
‘It is particularly welcome the commission was able to reach agreement with the industry, without new regulation.’
