Bouygues Telecom is actively committed to reducing the impact of its activities on the environment. Within the scope of these efforts, it has identified the absence of standardised connectors on mobile phones from different manufacturers as a key issue that must be addressed.

The incompatibility of mobile phone accessories – especially battery chargers – results in massive waste of resources on a truly planetary scale.

Consumers change cell phones frequently, every 24 months on average. Coupled with the addition of new customers, this will bring the number of mobile phones in use to nearly 3 billion by the end of 2007. New phones are always sold with a new charger, even though reusing this accessory – and making chargers compatible with different phone brands ­– is clearly feasible.

However, this can only be done if manufacturers agree to a single industry-wide standard.

For example, the leading wireless operator in Japan, NTT DoCoMo, requires that all its phone manufacturing partners use the same format charger.

This is why Bouygues Telecom is joining French standards institute AFNOR and the consumer protection and education association ADEIC to launch a French-led initiative to promote a global standard. This process is based on the AFNOR standards definition method.

About AFNOR standards agreements

AFNOR standards agreements are documents prepared collectively at the request of one or more stakeholders in a sector. A work group of qualified members is formed to produce a reference document with a short lead time, generally eight to ten months. The AFNOR agreement makes a significant contribution to efforts to subsequently define a European standard, helping focus and accelerate international standardisation work.

The impact of this “universal connector” initiative will be that much more powerful if it is embraced by all the players in the industry and supported by a network of decision leaders. Consumer associations have already expressed strong expectations in this area and will certainly support this project. Mobile phone maker Nokia, which now supplies a single charger for nearly all its devices, would be an excellent manufacturing partner.

All of this makes it perfectly reasonable to imagine that within two to three years, the players in the market will be able to propose a universal connector standard to the international community. Launching the AFNOR agreement process will lead to a concrete set of specifications for interoperability of mobile phone accessory interfaces. Within the framework of a collaborative process stewarded by AFNOR, work could conceivably encompass other key issues such as packaging, operating instructions, etc.

Current proposals to generalise the use of mini-USB or micro-USB connectors could provide a platform for consensus, avoiding the production of literally millions of tonnes of electronic waste across the planet each year.

The mini-USB standard has the benefit of already existing, and constitutes a viable solution for the long term. It is compatible across multiple applications and accommodates all types of connection needs: power supply, device interconnectivity, increased memory capacity, pedestrian headsets, microphone-headsets, etc.

Contacts


Stéphane ALBERT BLANC, Director, Quality, Safety, Environment & Processes - SALBERTB@bouyguestelecom.fr




Jean-François LEGENDRE - Manager, Information & Communication Development - jeanfrancois.legendre@afnor.org




About Bouygues Telecom
Created in 1994, Bouygues Telecom is France's third mobile telephone operator. It has 8.7 million customers, including 6.3 million with contracts.



bout AFNOR
AFNOR, the French standards body, develops the reference systems required by economic players to promote their strategic and commercial development. It represents France for standardisation at European level (CEN) and international level (ISO). AFNOR is part of the AFNOR Group. It has four main activities: standardisation, certification, publications and training.

Find out more: www.afnor.org