Finding a replacement mobile phone charger will become easier from next year in Europe thanks to a new industry standard agreed today, the European Commission said.
The industry agreed to standardise chargers in Europe after the commission threatened legally binding rules, eager to do away with the plethora of models, which is a source of headaches for users as well as several thousand tons of waste each year.
Following the agreement, the first inter-changeable mobile phones are due to hit the market next year, the European Union's executive arm said.
'I am very pleased that industry has found an agreement, which will make life much simpler for consumers,' EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said.
'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,' he added.
The companies that signed the agreement included Apple, LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research in Motion (RIM), Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Texas Instruments.
