Saudi Arabia to unify charging ports for e-devices starting January 1

Cairo: Starting January 1, the first mandatory phase of standardising charging ports for mobile phones and other electronic devices at the Saudi market will go into effect.

The Saudi Communications, Space and Technology Commission and the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organisation announced the standard charging outlets will be of the "USB Type-C”.

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The decision aims to improve users' experience in the kingdom, sparing them additional costs, provide high-quality charging and data transmission technology, and enhance the quality of technical products, the two government bodies elaborated.

Other aims include boosting environmental sustainability, and sustainable development by reducing the size of electronic waste.

According to both agencies, the decision is set to contribute to lowering local consumption of chargers and charging cables for mobile phones and electronic devices by more than 2.2 million units annually, saving consumers' spending to more than SR170 million per year, in addition to achieving the Saudi goals for sustainability in the technology sector by reducing annual electronic waste by about 15 tons.

The first mandatory phase will cover mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, e-readers, portable video game consoles, headphones, earphones, amplifiers, keyboards, computer mouses, portable navigation systems, loudspeakers and wireless routers.

The second phase will start on April 1 next year and will include laptops.

In August last year, Saudi communications authorities announced the mandatory phases of unifying charging sockets for electronic devices at the Saudi market, obligating suppliers to standardise their types.