The GSMA has won a Global Telecoms Business Innovation Award at for its Universal Charging Solution (UCS) initiative.

The Global System for Mobile communications Association (GSMA), which represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry, received two awards at the third annual Global Telecoms Business (GTB) Innovation Awards on 16 June.

The awards are designed to honour innovative projects involving telecoms operators and service providers around the world, in association with their vendors and suppliers, and were presented at a black-tie dinner at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel, London.

The GSMA with Orange took the award for the “Mains Charging Innovation” for the Universal Charging Solution (UCS) initiative, while the GSMA PathFinder Service was the recipient of the Editor’s Award honouring innovation by an industry association.

Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer for the GSMA, said: “We are extremely gratified to have been recognised by Global Telecoms Business and the entire panel of judges for both the Universal Charging Solution and for our PathFinder Service.

“The GSMA is focused on innovating, incubating and creating new opportunities for its membership, all with the end goal of driving the growth of the mobile communications industry and these projects represent prime examples of that commitment to innovation.”

In February, the GSMA and 17 leading mobile operators and manufacturers announced their commitment to implement a cross-industry standard for a Universal Charging Solution for new mobile phones.

Through the initiative, the mobile industry will adopt a common format for mobile phone charger connections and energy-efficient chargers, resulting in an estimated 50 per cent reduction in standby energy consumption and the potential elimination of up to 51,000 tonnes of duplicate chargers, as well as a greatly simplified charging experience for the end user.

The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry. Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.