A Complete Overview of 2G & 3G Sunsets

Latest update on August 24, 2020

Many of our customers are worried about the impending shutdown of 2G & 3G networks around the world. Probably you're considering it as well. We have collected all the available information into one article, so you're in the right place.

The following article serves as part 2 of our popular blog post on the very same topic. The first edition covered everything that was known in March 2018. Since then there have been new announcements from telecoms around the world regarding their planned shutdowns.

Shutting down 2G and 3G networks is generally called sunsetting. The reason why telecoms are eager to shut down their 2G or 3G networks is that they want to free up resources for impending 5G deployments. If your intended module is designed to use 2G or 3G, the sunsetting can cause many problems with device deployments. So it's wise to prepare for the future without 2G and 3G networks.

2G and 3G are still essential for IoT and M2M devices because of their lower cost compared to 4G modules. Also, cheaper megabyte pricing and reliable worldwide coverage. Furthermore, the speeds of 4G are not relevant for IoT or M2M devices, which are sending minimal amounts of data. The 2G's slow connection is still fast enough for today's standards.

From our side, we can say that for truly global deployments, it's not reasonable to lock your device into only 2G or 3G. Or even have a module that allows switching between the two. However, if you're only targeting certain countries or regions where they are still a viable option, then we can't stop you.

Following is a list of shutdowns that have been announced or have already taken place.

North America:

United States

AT&T

• 2G Shutdown: January 2017
• 3G Shutdown: February 2022

Verizon

• 2G Shutdown: December 31, 2019
• 3G Shutdown: December 31, 2020

T-Mobile

• 2G shutdown date: December 31, 2020
• 3G shutdown date: January 1, 2021

Sprint

• 2G Shutdown: December 31, 2021
• 3G Shutdown: December 31, 2022

Canada

Bell Mobility

• 2G Shutdown: 31.01.2017 - 30.04.2019 (depending on the region)

Telus Mobility

• 2G Shutdown: May 31, 2017

Rogers Wireless

• 2G availability extension: December 31, 2021
• 3G on 1900 MHz Shutdown: March 31, 2021 (Continued 3G support on 800 MHz)

SakTel

• 2G CDMA shutdown: July 31, 2017

Mexico

AT&T

• 2G Shutdown: 2023 or later

Telefonica

• 2G Shutdown: September 2020

Europe:

Vodafone across Europe

• 2G Shutdown: Not until 2025
• 3G Shutdown: Throughout 2020-2021

United Kingdom

EE

• 3G Shutdown: 2022

Vodafone UK

• 3G probable shutdown: 2021/2022

Denmark

Three

• 3G Shutdown by the end of 2020

TT-Netvaerket

• 3G phase-out starts from April 2021

Telenor

• 3G phase-out starts from April 2021

Telia

• 3G phase-out starts from April 2021

Lithuania

Telia

• 3G shutdown in 2022

France

SFR

• 2G available until 2030

Czech Republic

T-Mobile

• 3G shutdown expected by 2020

Latvia

Telia

• 3G shutdown in 2022

Switzerland

Swisscom (and Liechtenstein)

• 2G Shutdown: December 31, 2020

Sunrise Communications

• 2G Shutdown: December 31, 2018

Netherlands

T-Mobile

• 2G Shutdown: November 15, 2020

KPN

• 3G Shutdown: January 2022

Vodafone

• 3G Shutdown since Feb 2020

Norway

Telia

• 3G Shutdown throughout 2021

Telenor

• 2G Shutdown: December 31, 2025
• 3G Shutdown throughout 2020

Sweden

Telia

• 3G Shutdow: 2025

Tele2

• 3G Shutdown: 2025

Germany

Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile)

• 3G Shutdown: December 31, 2020

Vodafone

• 2G Shutdown in 2025
• 3G shutdown between 2020-2021

Caribbean:

Cayman Island

Digicel Cayman

• 2G was terminated on July 1, 2020

South America:

Ecuador

CNT

• 2G CDMA was terminated on December 31, 2014

Middle East:

Israel

Pelephone

• 2G CDMA shutdown date: July 30, 2017

Saudi Arabia

STC

• 3G shutdown sometime in 2022

Bahrain

Batelco

• 2G sunset on December 31, 2020

UAE

• Countrywide 2 shutdown by the end of 2022

Asia:

Macau, SAR

Hutchison

• 2G shutdown in June 2015¹

SmarTone

• 2G shutdown in June 2015¹

CTM

• 2G shutdown in June 2015¹

Hong Kong

• All carriers phase out 2G from 2020

Vietnam

• Countrywide 2G shutdown planned from January 1, 2022

Myanmar

Telenor

• 2G shutdown scheduled for 2022²
• 3G shutdown planned for 2025-2026²

Pakistan

Telenor

• 3G shutdown planned for 2023²

Bangladesh

Grameenphone

• 2G shutdown planned for 2025²

China

• Countrywide 3G Shutdown: planned, but no specific dates are given yet

India

Airtel

• 3G Shutdown: March 2020

Reliance

• 2G & 3G shutdown date: November 30, 2017

Japan

• Nationwide 2G shutdown in 2012

NTT DoCoMo

• 2G shutdown on March 1, 2012
• 3G shutdown on March 2026¹

KDDI

• 2G shutdown on March 2008
• 3G shutdown on March 2026¹

SoftBank

• 2G shutdown date: March 31, 2010
• 3G shutdown on March 2024¹

South Korea

KT

• 2G Shutdown: March 19, 2012

LG U+

• 2G Shutdown in July 2021

Taiwan

All carriers due to governmental regulation

• 2G Shutdown: July 1, 2017
• 3G Shutdown: December 31, 2018

Thailand

All carriers due to governmental regulation

• 2G Shutdown: October 31, 2019

Singapore

M1

• 2G shutdown date: April 1, 2017
• 3G will start shutting down from 2025+¹

Singtel

• 2G shutdown date: April 1, 2017
• 3G will start shutting down from 2025+¹

StarHub

• 2G shutdown date: April 1, 2017
• 3G will start shutting down from 2025+¹

Africa

South Africa

Telkom

• 2G shutdown planned for 2020

Oceania

Australia

Telstra

• 2G Shutdown: December 1, 2016
• 3G Shutdown: March 25, 2019 (turned off 3G connectivity on 2100MHz, continued support for 3G services on 850MHz)
• 3G on 850MHz shutdown by June 2024

Optus

• 2G Shutdown: August 1, 2017

Vodafone

• 2G Shutdown: March 31, 2018.
• 3G Shutdown: March 18, 2019 (turned off 2100MHz, continued support for 3G on 900MHz)

New Zealand

Spark

• 2G CDMA shutdown date: July 31, 2012

2degrees

• 2G shutdown date: March 15, 2018

Vodafone

• 2G shutdown in 2025¹

Sunsets don’t have to be the end of the line for your deployment dreams. If properly planned for, you can avoid all the headache by choosing the right hardware for your deployment region from the very beginning. You can read more about the various modems which support 2G, 3G, 4G, and eSIM here.

Also, we will update this article or make new posts when new announcements are made from telecoms regarding their 2G or 3G shutdowns around the world.

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References:

1. GSMA Legacy mobile network rationalisation, Experiences of 2G and 3G migrations in Asia-Pacific, May 2020

2. UK Spectrum policy forum, October 2019