Future O2 UK, HTC handset to sell without charger
updated 08:28 pm EDT, Tue September 25, 2012
Carrier aims to reduce environmental impact of phones
O2 and HTC will sell a future phone without the charger bundled in the box. According to Pocket Lint, the pilot scheme between the phone manufacturer and the UK carrier seeks to reduce the number of "wasted" charger in circulation, forcing customers to use existing chargers for other devices, a USB port on a computer, or to buy a charger separately.
The carrier believes that 70 percent of customers buying a new phone in the UK already own a charger that will work with the new phone, and estimates that over 100 million chargers are currently unused in the UK, with the 30 million new handsets sold in the UK just adding to the stockpile.
The move will see O2 and HTC reduce the environmental damage and costs associated with phone manufacturing and excess packaging. Ronan Dunne, CEO of O2 believes in the project enough that he hopes the companies "will be able to pave the way for others to follow us as this has to be a collective effort if we are to achieve the bigger aim of eliminating chargers sold with every new phone in the UK."
It isn't clear what HTC handset will be the first to go charger-less, but it has been confirmed it will still come with a USB to microUSB cable for charging.
