2G and 3G mobile switch off dates in UK and Europe

Has anyone heard any more about the realistic dates when this is likely to happen? I've seen 2020 listed as a date in some old articles, but not sure if that's still the case.

I'm not so fussed about phones, but what about any precision farming gear, like mobile/cellular RTK that costs ££££ to replace. If so what are our equipment vendors doing about it?

It will be a total pain in the backside to swap out gear that no longer works on the phone networks, but otherwise works perfectly well.

Worrying about nothing or....

Lofty said:

It's an interesting question and one I've been giving a little bit of thought to recently. The only way to achieve a steady stable NTRIP connection here is with 2G only.
Might be wrong, but I always thought 4G didn't carry voice anyway so can't see 2/3G disappearing any time soon.

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All the carriers are moving their 4G services to voice over LTE (VoLTE) which is voice carried over IP packet (it's all data now) as they can get more bang for their (expensive licensed) bandwidth. They want to get rid of 2G and 3G as fast as possible really.

I don't know if the 2020 date is real or not, but there's a lot of stuff (other than precision farming and surveying derived kit) like ATM machines, alarms systems, etc still using GSM and GPRS.

But it is something that made me think it could be a bit of a problem, not a long way off, especially as there's very little stuff that can do 4G right now in this space.

Robt said:

Why mention ATM machines? You said precision farming in your opening post? Do you really think the ATM companies haven't a 5/10 year plan for future development? You disappoint me

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I'm just citing the installed base of other equipment that uses 2G or 3G for data could be quite significant (certainly much larger than PF) and perhaps also might not be readily upgraded or perhaps it might...I don't know. It would have to be a consideration (I hope) for Ofcom in considering switch off dates.

Looking at it from our little sphere if Ofcom announced tomorrow that 2020 was going to be the switch off date. It could leave a lot of folks on a sticky wicket, especially as I can't see any new kit supporting 4G for data. You might know different...

The UK and Europe are very hazy and unclear around switch off dates for 2G and 3G.

The shutdown dates in other countries like Australia and USA are quite clear. for example one of the biggest telcos there, Verizon, recently announced it will switch off its 2G and 3G network by 2021 and moving everything to LTE/4G.

I guess it will get driven out of there more or less.

Found this info from a company that makes cellular/mobile gear for M2M (machine-to-machinery) comms:

Network Shut-Down Information (2G & CDMA) 09.03.17


As you are probably aware, Cellular network operators around the world are planning to shut down their 2G networks and even sometimes 3G networks.

Unfortunately there is no global Master plan for a common roll-out of a single technology. During the next 3-5 years all of us need to cope with 2G / 3G and 4G network coverages, determined by each single country and network provider.

While some countries like USA or Australia are very clear, other regions such as Germany or UK remain quite uncertain.

FALCOM's FOX3-3G is helping you to overcome this situation and securing your communication channels by offering 3G and 2G in 1 device.

Moreover during 2017 we will also offer 2 versions of FOX3-4G supporting LTE cat 4 for USA or EMEA and Asia as well as 3G and 2G.

For more details on FOX3-3G pls check our website:

https://www.falcom.de/products/avl/fox3-3g/

For FOX3-4G please ask us directly. Network status per country and/or network provider:

Australia:

• Telstra announced that they will shut down their GSM network by December, 1st 2016.
• Optus Australia (Singtel group) announced that they will shut down their GSM network by April, 1st 2017.
• Vodafone (End of September) discontinuation of GSM-network in the 900-MHz band

Austria:

• Austria's market leader A1 does "not have any plans for shutdown of GSM in the coming years". The shifting of GSM frequencies to changeover-friendly 5 MHz packages will only be fully completed beginning of 2018 (900 MHz), respectively beginning of 2020 (1,800 MHz). A1 will at least offer UMTS on the 2,100 MHz frequency until end of 2020.
• Drei has not yet decided and observes the evolution, thinking that especially for M2M applications GSM could be relevant beyond 2020.
• T-Mobile Austria and FL1 (Telecom Liechtenstein) have not yet commented the matter.

Canada:

• Rogers Wireless is the only provider still having a 2G network, until 2018.

Germany:

• At the present time, neither Telekom, nor Vodafone, nor Telefonica want to commit to a transfer roadmap, off GSM and/or UMTS to LTE or it's follow-up standard. Vodafone wants to use their GSM frequencies, "so that they correspond to the actual distribution of end terminals and thereby comply with the customers' needs". It sounds as if there's going to be a step-by-step exit from GSM and UMTS. The same applies to Telekom.

Korea:

• KT terminated 2G service completely as of March 19, 2012

New Zealand:

• Vodafone New Zealand spokeswoman Elissa Downey said (in March, 2016) it planned to turn off its 2G voice service and would confirm the timing soon (2020? 2021?).

Norway:

• Telenor Norway announced the will shut down 3G network in 2020, five years before 2G (2025).

Singapore:

• Starhub, M1 & Singtel announced that they will discontinue their 2G services all across the country by April, 1st 2017

Switzerland:

• Swisscom is deploying LTE Advanced from 2016, before 5G full availability in 2020. 2G technology will no longer be supported for residential & business customers, as well as M2M applications by January, 1st 2021.

Thailand:

• True Move and Digital Phone (DPC) shut down their 2G networks in June 2014, replaced by 4G networks.

USA:

• AT&T has announced they will terminate 2G network availability on December 31, 2016.
• T-Mobile USA: GSM-network still available until 2020 – but in reduced scope; especially for M2M customers
• Verizon announced a plan to completely shut down 2G (CDMA 1xRTT) network by December 31st, 2019, potentially keeping it open for one extra year for specific customers over 2020. Same announcement for 3G (EV-DO) network that will be closed by early 2021 (replaced by LTE).
• Sprint is at least committed until 2021 for its 2G (CDMA 1xRTT).

Northern farmer said:

Topcon Ag gear moved to 2G/3G quite recently, is there a 4G modem available now? Our 2012 Topcon modem (yes, it is a 100% Topcon part) is still 2G only (plus radio of course).

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At the risk of playing into RobT's hands (just kidding Rob ) and making this all about Topcon, the AGI4 snap-in I got in 3Q/2015 was 3G ready.

I'm mildly intrigued too...Do they offer a LTE ready snap-in now for AGI-4?

A bit more news with this. Look like Vodafone (and Telefonica in Europe) at least won’t be switching off 2G service here until 2025:

Is it lights out time for 2G?
As the much anticipated 5G hype draws closer to reality, is it time to bid 2G goodbye?

JESSICA FOREMAN APRIL 11, 2018



Launched way back in 1993, Vodafone Australia’s 2G GSM network has had a good run; but is now the right time to turn the switch off? Vodafone made a statement a few years back that 2G would be no longer after September 2017, so why is it still going? And, more importantly, what will it mean when for us when 2G’s borrowed time does eventually run out?

The good thing for every Vodafone customer living in Europe, we have time to find out – until 2025 at the earliest in fact. For our friends further afield, however, or on a different network, you may, if you haven’t succumbed to the ever-evolving technology yet, need to invest in a new handset. Though it is notable that Japan has already made the leap, as it abandoned all 2G services back in 2012; the first country that fully jumped to 3G & 4G networks.

AT&T has also switched off its 2G network, while rivals such as Verizon and T-Mobile reveal plans to do the same. Sunrise, the Swiss network, plans to turn off 2G by the end of next year, while Swisscom and T-Mobile Netherlands have scheduled shut downs by the end of 2020.

So, what is the reason behind Vodafone letting 2G live on in Europe until 2025? According to Erick Brenneis, CEO at the company, the reason is a simple one. It is the need to support legacy machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) connections that run on 2G.

Vodafone is one of the leading IoT providers globally, according to Gartner, with that segment of the business producing more than €700 million in revenue per year.

Brenneis explains that although new IoT technologies, such as narrowband IoT, can offer similar benefits to 2G connections, there are still a lot of legacy connections that will not be renewed for several years.

“We are encouraging customers to develop new applications on the technology that is best for them,” Brenneis says “So we also play the role of consultants for some of our customers. If they ask us for help, we offer it. If they want an application where they can upgrade software on the device consistently, we might recommend an alternative to NB-IoT – it is an individual discussion and what we do is offer the solution that is best for the customer.

“Our plan is that we won’t switch off 2G networks in Europe until the year 2025, which is longer than the life time of most of the IoT connections even if you bring them into the market now.”

What does the 2G shutdown mean for me?

The news makes Vodafone the second of Europe’s mobile giants to rule out a switch off in the next five years, after Telefonica CTO Enrique Blanco said the same at this year’s Mobile World Congress in February.

Many operators require more spectrum for 4G and 5G deployments, so something has to give, unfortunately it just so happens to be 2G.

Brenneis says this is a discussion continually being banded around across Vodafone’s top management team.

“We discuss freeing up spectrum internally a lot. You can also scale down a 2G network in a gradual way by reserving some bandwidth for legacy applications, and then, we will consult with customers who make new applications on what is the right technology.

“Should they move to 4G for new applications, as there is also cheap hardware available? From us, customers get the same price per megabyte no matter what connection they are on, the cost difference is on the hardware. We also consult each individual on that – it depends on a lot of parameters, such as the lifetime of their solution, or the demand on bandwidth. Customers should not worry about our 2G switching off any time soon.”