EU LOOKS TO MOBILE PHONES TO SAVE ENERGY HALFWAY THERE?

TWO OF THE UK’S FOUR mobile network operators now claim to have reached half the population of the UK with 5G.

Hutchison-owned Three says it now reaches 56 per cent of the population, one percentage point higher than the 55 per cent that EE claims to cover. O2 and Vodafone can claim to cover around 35 per cent of the population, according to a RootMetrics, which has been acquired by speed test company Ookla, in a survey conducted over the first half of 2022.

RootMetrics data also confirmed that Three has the highest peak speeds for 5G, with a median download speed of almost 200 Mbit/s. O2 came bottom with 110 Mbit/s. Ookla confirmed that Three delivered the fastest download speeds, although it placed Vodafone in first place for upload speeds.

URSULA VON DER LEYEN , president of the EU, is on a charge to save energy and the planet. And in her sights are the way we use and repair mobile phones.

As part of the EU Ecodesign Regulations, the European Commission is looking for a 25 percent reduction in the power used by mobile phones, tablets and cordless phones by 2030. Using 2020 as a baseline this would see consumption drop from 39.5 TWh to 25.4 TWh.

But it is the repair of mobile phones, a recognition that consumers want to have the same device for longer, that has the biggest impact on the industry.

The proposals look to equip registered, professional repairers with the skills, tools and