A Complete Overview of 2G & 3G Sunsets

Latest update on February 10, 2021

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.

Shutting down 2G and 3G networks is generally called sunsetting. Telecoms are eager to shut down their 2G or 3G networks because 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 device deployments problems. 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 than 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.

Africa:

South Africa

Telkom

• 2G shutdown date: March 2020

Vodacom

• 2G shutdown: planned, but no specific dates are given yet

Asia:

Bangladesh

Grameenphone

• 2G shutdown planned for 2025

China

• Countrywide 3G shutdown: planned, no specific dates given

Unicom

• 2G Shutdown: end-2021

India

Airtel

• 3G Shutdown: March 2020

Japan

• Nationwide 2G shutdown in 2012

NTT DoCoMo

• 2G shutdown date: March 1, 2012
• 3G shutdown date: March 2026¹

KDDI

• 2G shutdown date: March 2008
• 3G shutdown date: March 2022¹

SoftBank

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

Hong Kong

All carriers

• 2G phase out from 2020

Macau, SAR        

Hutchison

• 2G Shutdown in June 2015¹

SmarTone

• 2G Shutdown in June 2015¹

CTM

• 2G Shutdown in June 2015¹

Myanmar

• Telenor 2G Shutdown scheduled for 2022
• 3G shutdown planned for 2025-2027

Pakistan

Telenor

• 3G shutdown planned for 2023

Singapore

M1

• 2G shutdown date: April 01, 2017

• 3G will start shutting down from 2025+¹

  Singtel
• 2G shutdown date: April 01, 2017
• 3G will start shutting down from 2025+¹

StarHub

• 2G shutdown date: April 01, 2017
• 3G will start shutting down from 2025+¹

South Korea

KT

• 2G Shutdown: 2012

LG U+

• 2G shutdown: July 2021¹

SK Telecom

• 2G shutdown: July 2020

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

Vietnam

• Countrywide 2G shutdown planned from January 1, 2022

Caribbean:

Cayman Island  

• Digicel cayman 2G was terminated on July 1, 20202

South America:

Ecuador

CNT

• 2G CDMA was terminated on December 21, 2014

Europe:

Vodafone across Europe

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

Denmark

Three       

• 3G phase out starts from 2020

TT-Netvaerket       

• 3G phase out starts from 04.2021

Telenor     

• 3G phase out  starts from 04.2021

Telia

• 3G phase out starts from 04.2021

TDC

• 3G phase out starts from end-2022

France

SFR

• 2G available until 2030

Germany

Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile)

• 3G shutdown: June 30, 2021

Vodafone

• 2G Shutdown in 2025
• 3G shutdown: June 30, 2021

Italy

• Vodafone 3G shutdown: January 31, 2021

Latvia

Telia

• 3G shutdown in 2022

Lithuania

Telia 

• 3G shutdown in 2022

Bite

• 2G shutdown: 2026-2028
• 3G shutdown: 2024-2025

Netherlands

T-Mobile

• 2G shutdown: June 2023

KPN

• 3G shutdown January 2022

Vodafone

• 3G shutdown since February 2020

Norway

Telenor 

• 2G Shutdown: December 31, 2025 
• 3G Shutdown: January 11, 2021

Poland

T-Mobile

• 2G shutdown: expected in 2024-2025

Spain

Telefonica Espana (Movistar

• 3G shutdown: 2025

Sweden

• Telia  3G Shutdown: 2025
• Tele2 3G Shutdown: 2025

Switzerland

Swisscom (Switzerland and Liechtenstein) 

• 2G Shutdown: December 31, 2020

Sunrise Communications

• 2G shutdown: not until end-2022

United Kingdom

BT (EE)

• 3G shutdown: 2022

Vodafone UK

• 3G probable shutdown: 2021/2022

North America

Canada

• Bell Mobility 2G Shutdown: 31.01.2017-30.04.2019 (depending on the region)
• Telus Mobility 2G Shutdown: 31 May, 2017

Rogers Wireless

• 2G on 1900 MHz Shutdown: March 31, 2021 (will continue to work on 850MHz until December 31, 2021)
• 2G complete Shutdown: December 31, 2021
• 3G on 1900 MHz Shutdown: March 31, 2021 (Continued 3G support on 850 MHz)

SakTel

• 2G CDMA shutdown July 21, 2017

Mexico

• AT&T 2G Shutdown: 2023 or later
• Telefonica (Movistar) 2G will start shutting down from December 2020 and conclude at the end of January 2021

United States

AT&T 

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

Verizon

• 2G Shutdown: December 31, 2019 

T-Mobile 

• 2G shutdown date: December 31, 2022 
• 3G Shutdown: October 1, 2021
• 3G Shutdown (formerly Sprint): January 1, 2022

Cricket wireless

• 3G shutdown: February 2022

Middle East:

Israel

Pelephone

• 2G CDMA shutdown date: July 30, 2017

Saudi Arabia        

STC

• 3G shutdown sometime in 2022

UAE

• Countrywide 2G shutdown by the end of 2022

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 in 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.

We will also 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