The IT Nerd

The EU has been teasing this for some time. But now it’s official. A press release issued by the European Parliament earlier today states the following:

By the end of 2024, all mobile phones, tablets and cameras sold in the EU will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C charging port. From spring 2026, the obligation will extend to laptops. The new law, adopted by plenary on Tuesday with 602 votes in favour, 13 against and 8 abstentions, is part of a broader EU effort to reduce e-waste and to empower consumers to make more sustainable choices.

Under the new rules, consumers will no longer need a different charger every time they purchase a new device, as they will be able to use one single charger for a whole range of small and medium-sized portable electronic devices.

Regardless of their manufacturer, all new mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigation systems, earbuds and laptops that are rechargeable via a wired cable, operating with a power delivery of up to 100 Watts, will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C port.

All devices that support fast charging will now have the same charging speed, allowing users to charge their devices at the same speed with any compatible charger.

I think it’s a safe bet that Tim Cook and company are not happy about this as they’ve resisted calls from their users to switch from Lightning to USB-C for years. Even though it’s pretty clear that Lightning is dead as well as dead slow. But I for one am very happy about this as it will finally force Apple to join everybody else in 2022 with a USB-C port on their phone. Though I can see a scenario where Apple may either try to fight this, or get rid of all ports on iPhones just to make a point. But I suspect that we’ll see soon enough. Starting with Apple trotting out one of their press minions to comment about how this stops innovation.

Yesterday, EU lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor for new rules to establish a common charger for all mobile device makers across Europe. Reuters has the details on that:

Members of the European Parliament voted by 582-40 for a resolution urging the European Commission, which drafts EU laws, to ensure that EU consumers are no longer obliged to buy new chargers with each new device.

The resolution said voluntary agreements in the industry had significantly reduced the number of charger types, but had not resulted in one common standard.

Here’s why this is bad. Politicians have a horrible track record of coming up with standards when it comes to technology. While European politicians are better than most, they still get it wrong more often than they get it right. Why is this the case? They don’t understand the technology that they are regulating for starters. And if you don’t understand something, you’ll screw up trying to regulate the something in question. And technology is constantly evolving. So while the standard of the moment seems to be USB-C, that will only last so long before something better evolves and we’ll be back to having multiple chargers again. And in a few years we’ll be having this discussion again. Thus this is going to be never ending. Finally, there are things that are simply not going to fit into whatever bucket that these politicians are creating. For example, the Apple Watch uses a magnetic charging puck. Are EU politicians going to now say that it has to change to USB-C? If they do, then they’re really short sighted.

For those reasons, politicians in the EU should really not get involved in this. Now I like a lot of people would like to have less cables for the various devices that I own, but this is not how you accomplish that.

As of tomorrow, EU roaming charges are a thing of the past. So EU citizens in theory can go on vacation without getting a massive phone bill. It took ten years of hard work to get to this point. But consumers in the end are going to win. That’s a good thing. Right?

Not so fast.

A consumer watchdog has warned that bills will skyrocket as telcos will want to make up the lost revenues from charging for roaming. And it may already be happening according to the Telegraph:

Data is where it gets a little bit complicated. Data is ostensibly the same as back home – mobile phone owners can browse the web, use WhatsApp and stream YouTube within their allowances or at the same pay as you go price, although their signal quality will depend on the local network and some operators have been accused of throttling networks abroad. 
 
However, mobile phone companies are allowed to impose “fair use” policies which means that monthly data allowances are not quite the same as when using mobile internet in the UK. Each of the four UK operators have different allowances. 

So if you were thinking of Instagramming all your food or posting selfies to Facebook while you travel, you may want to think twice. You may not be able to do as much of that as you think and avoid bill shock.

You gotta love those telcos. They’re always thinking of new and creative ways to take money out of your pockets.