MWC22 – Longstanding partners Orange and Samsung have announced a series of initiatives surrounding Galaxy smartphones at Mobile World Congress (MWC).

First, they want to reduce waste and extend the lifecycle of Samsung devices distributed by Orange. The operator said it will offer an extension on the trade-in and the collection programs on used Samsung devices, as well as add a "Samsung Certified Refurbished" device program through the operator's channels.

Second, the duo will adopt the mobile phone eco-rating scheme launched last year by Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, Telia and Vodafone (and supported by various vendors, including Samsung).

Figure 1: Samsung's Galaxy phones: Now available in green.
(Source: Daniel Romero on Unsplash)

The rating will evaluate the environmental impact of Samsung Galaxy smartphones during their entire lifecycle, from design to disposal. The two companies anticipated they'll be able to implement further improvements once the rating scheme is up and running.

When the eco-rating scheme was launched, five criteria were identified: durability, repairability, recyclability, climate efficiency (relating to the emissions of the device during its lifecycle) and resource efficiency (relating to the impact caused by the amount of scarce raw materials required by the device).

Get ready for 5G SA

Device-wise, Orange and Samsung are also preparing for 5G standalone (SA) services. There's apparently going to be "end-to-end testing" of Samsung devices, putting various technologies through their paces, such as network slicing and voice over Orange's 5G SA test networks.

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The process, they said, will also involve exploring new use cases made possible through 5G SA network capabilities for both industrial and entertainment-related services.

According to the word in the MWC halls, 5G SA networks will start to ramp up commercially in Europe toward the end of 2022 and the start of 2023.

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— Ken Wieland, contributing editor, special to Light Reading