The National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday all mobile phones would have to be equipped with a USB charger port in the future.
Lo Chin-hsien (羅金賢), deputy director of the commission’s technologies administration department, confirmed that the commission members met Ministry of Economic Affairs officials to discuss how to execute the policy.
The ministry promulgated the new specifications for mobile phone chargers in July.
The commission is the administrative authority charged with certifying the specifications and safety of mobile phones and must follow the ministry’s instructions.
Lo said that the issue had been discussed for a while, as many mobile phone users have complained that they have to buy new chargers whenever they buy a new phone.
The problem was highlighted again after many victims of Typhoon Morakot complained about problems recharging their phones because everyone had different chargers.
Lo said that the policy change would impact mobile phone manufacturers, who will need time to gradually phase out older phone models.
“We have been meeting with mobile phone manufacturers and will announce the details once they are settled,” Lo said.
Several leading mobile phone manufacturers, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, Research-in-Motion (RIM) and Apple, signed an agreement with the EU earlier this year that new phones would be equipped with micro-USB as the charger port and would be compatible with any charger.
NCC Commissioner Lee Ta-sung (李大嵩) said that the one-charger-fits-all rule is a future trend and that Taiwan needs to be on the same track.
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