The GSM Association is trying to develop and implement a universal charging solution (USC) for mobile phones via a micro USB interface and their target roll out date for this is in 2012. Aside from making it a lot more convenient for consumers to find a compatible charger for their mobile phone, it will also reduce standby energy by as much as 50%, and safe to say, eliminate the production of some 51,000 tons of redundant mobile phone chargers for various brands.

Currently, the association has garnered the support of 17 prominent companies most notable of which are the big three in the industry right now: Nokia, Samsung and LG. The other companies who have endorsed their support for the project are Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Qualcomm, Vodafone, AT&T, Orange, T-Mobile, Telefónica, Telstra, Telenor, Hutchison’s 3, KTF, Telecom Italia, and mobilkom Austria. Hopefully, other companies like Apple and HTC, just to name a few, will also hop on board this initiative so that by 2012 we’ll just have one single charger to use for all mobile phones.