The EU Proposes New Mobile Device Regulation to Extend Product Life Time

Around 20 years ago, most people replaced their phones on a yearly basis in some countries, largely due to the fact that if you signed the right mobile service contract, you got a free phone. These days, it’s not nearly as common to get a free device with your service, but then again, mobile service contracts also tend to cost much less these days in many countries. As such, people retain their devices longer, which has put the device upgrade cycle somewhere around the two or three year mark. Now the EU is proposing new regulations that will force the mobile device makers to re-think the current status quo, as the European Commission regulators are considering asking mobile device makers to offer not just better battery life, but also spare part availability for as long as five years after a device was launched.

When it comes to battery life, the EU Commission is intending to offer the device manufacturers two options. The first is that they’ll have to offer batteries that can deliver 83 percent of their rated capacity after 500 charging cycles, followed by 80 percent capacity after 1000 charging cycles. Alternatively, they can offer replacement batteries and phone back covers to its end-user customers, so they can replace their batteries once the batteries no longer hold charge that meets the owners expectations.

The spare parts program is tied to “professional repairers” which suggests that third party repair shops will be on the table. The manufacturers will have to provide key parts, such as batteries, displays, cameras, charging ports, mechanical buttons, microphones, speakers and hinge assemblies for a period of at least five years. End consumers should also be given access to replacement displays, as well as SIM and memory card trays, microphones, charging ports and hinge mechanisms, for a time period of at least seven years from the last marketing day of the device. This suggests that phone parts could be available for some eight to nine years after a new model has been introduced.

Furthermore, the EU Commission is proposing at least five years of security updates and three years of “functionality updates”. However, these updates should be seen as an extension to the current OS updates and security patches, which should see most phone makers having to offer updates well beyond the two or three years we’re seeing from most Android device makers today. The EU is currently collecting feedback on its proposal and anyone can submit comments until the 28th of September. If the EU Commission decides to go ahead with the proposal, it’s not expected to be approved until sometime in the fourth quarter of this year and it’s unlikely to be written into law until the end of 2023.