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customer satisfaction). The group hopes to have the goal in place by 2012. Some of the participating companies offered their thoughts on the plan: “AT&T is pleased to join this industry initiative as it aligns well with AT&T’s own efforts to provider greener and simpler solutions for our customers,” said Kris Rinne, Senior Vice President, Architecture and Panning, AT&T. “Samsung seeks to actively take responsibility for the future of our environment. The universal charging solution presents a unique opportunity for our industry to bring positive benefits to the environment and also to the end-user experience,” said WS Lee, Vice President, R&D Planning, Mobile Communication Division, Samsung Electronics. “Given the estimated eight million handsets sold in Australia every year, moving to a

standard, universal charger for mobile phones has the potential to dramatically reduce duplication and waste. The proposed charger could be made available as a standalone accessory, eliminating the current requirement for a charger to be included with every new mobile phone,” said Ross Fielding, Executive Director, Telstra.

On a similarly green note, the GSMA will be working with Dialog Telekom to deploy ten solar- and wind-powered base stations in Sri Lanka as part of its Green Power for Mobile program. “Being able to utilize practical, cost effective and renewable sources of power is crucial for operators wanting to provide a broad range of mobile coverage, over vast rural areas, far beyond the reach of national electricity grids,” said Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer for the GSMA. “Dialog Telekom, as part of the GSMA’s Green Power for Mobile program, has used a number of different scenarios to prove to the industry that renewable energy is a real and viable alternative to on-grid and generator power.”

Vice President and Head of Mobile Communication Division of Samsung Electronics. "We are committed to achieving the highest eco-status with our customers and business partners by providing the best eco-products and promoting eco-activities.”

And in more award news, the GSMA has presented RIM with the 2009 Chairman’s Award for pioneering the wireless data industry with their Blackberry device, a nice notice to the company that seems to have had so many lawsuits in the last few years that some of us are surprised it’s still going. In his presentation to RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie, GSMA Chairman Alexander Izosimov stated that, “RIM’s commitment to innovation has revolutionized the wireless industry and laid the foundations which shaped the thriving smartphone market of today. BlackBerry products and services have changed the way we communicate and interact, making businesses more productive and consumers better connected.”