The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), aka the telecomm branch of the United Nations, has recently approved a standard for a universal phone charger. The standard is based on the GSM Association’s earlier suggestion for a Micro-USB-based universal mobile phone charger.

This is really good news for anyone who has been following the ‘universal phone charger‘ story. The ITU joins the GSMA and the CTIA, which jumped on board earlier this month, in making a universal mobile phone charger that much closer to becoming a reality. Hooray for cooperation!

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Earlier today, CTIA-The Wireless Association announced its support for the “Universal Charging Solution” (UCS) for mobile phones (developed by the Open Mobile Terminal Platform industry standards group) “to celebrate Earth Day.”

CTIA joins the GSMA, which announced its endorsement of the Micro-USB-based universal mobile charger solution back in February.

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Earlier today, the GSMA announced that it has successfully brokered a deal with leading handset manufacturers and network operators to standardize mobile chargers by 2012 (for most, but not all cellular phones).

The primary goal of this new agreement is to cut down on the environmental impact created by trashing old chargers. According to the AP:

The GSMA calculates a reduction in greenhouse gases from manufacturing and transporting replacement chargers of 13.6 to 21.8 million tons a year. Cast-off chargers currently generate more than 51,000 tons of waste a year, it says.

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