In an event in Barcelona, Spain, a total of 1300 exhibitors registered in GSMA (Groupe Speciale Mobile Association) Mobile World Congress are gathered to showcase their newest technology and innovative mobile phones.

The GSMA Mobile World Congress is a yearly event for thousands of mobile-industry professionals. The Mobile World Congress of 2009 (MWC 2009), under way this week started on February 16th to 19th.

While mobile operators were successfully bundled in one location, the European mobile communications organization GSMA brought out a proposal project. The Association announced the creation of a universal cell phone charger that will function with most mobile phones by 2012.

The aim of the initiative seeks to adopt a common format for phone charger connections and common energy-efficient chargers.

The GSM and through its strong push to the initiative, 17 leading mobile operators and manufacturers shows a positive response and recently announced that they are committed to implementing a cross-industry standard for a universal charger for new mobile phones.

The initial list of those companies who have joined the initiative are 3 Group, AT&T, KTF, LG, mobilkom austria, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone.

The consortium believes that a proposal project could result in an estimated 50 percent reduction in standby energy consumption and tens of thousands of tons of duplicate chargers.

The mobile industry has a pivotal role to play in tackling environmental issues and this program is an important step that could lead to huge savings in resources, not to mention convenience for consumers, said Rob Conway, GSMA chairman, in a statement.

A potential total of up to 51,000 tons of duplicate chargers will be eliminated and transporting replacement chargers by 13.6 to 21.8 million tons a year which will prompt gesture of convenience, energy efficiency, and less environmental impact that make consumers' lives more stress-free.

There is enormous potential in mobile to help people live and work in an eco-friendly way, Conway said.

However, some of the industry's biggest players are not included in the group including Apple Inc and Palm Inc.

According to blogs from PCWorld, a push to universal charger won't work like for iphone because it may impact the charger's practicality and popularity, iPhone uses a proprietary 30-pin cable, the bloggers also noted that technology continuously evolved the ever-changing nature of technology itself is another sure-fire reason the universal charger won't fly...The universal charger is an ambitious idea, but perhaps five or six years too late.

The BBC News also noted that the move may be a response to pressure from the European Commission Manufacturers had been under pressure from the European Commission to produce a standardized charger.

According to EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen in a German radio station Deutsche Welle there were more than 30 different kinds of chargers in use across the European Union.

The GSMA which is now the main association of mobile phone manufacturers are struggling to push the idea and working hard. In 2012 either late or not they are eyeing that the proposed project could be implemented for the mother earth and the consumers.

Electronics Mobile world congress T-mobile Iphone