Should 2G/3G be shut down?

Should 2G/3G be shut down?

  • Yes

    Votes: 74 36.5%

  • No

    Votes: 113 55.7%

  • Other

    Votes: 16 7.9%
  • Total voters
    203
First remedy the dependency on 2G/3G, then shut it down. Promote newer technology adoption through regulation. This should have been done a long time ago already.
 
@bwana the poll should have rather been:
Which cellular network generation (2G, 3G) should we switch off:
2G
3G
2G + 3G
4G (Troll pick)
Other
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Since would have voted 3G only since 2G needs for IoT / POS systems, etc.
 
What are these iot and m2m devices that are still only 2G devices
 
Yes it must be shut down, in a phased manner (i.e. impossible for current government to get right)

1. Get analytics from the networks in terms of users/devices on 2G/3G.
2. Compute cost of replacement of said devices, and provide incentive e.g. like Eskom swapped out globes for CFL.
3. Mandate that no <4G devices are sold from a particular date.
4. Calculate proposed economic benefit of switching of 2G/3G and migrating to 4G. Even if it is something like, Vodacom would be R xM more profitable from more data sold due to reused spectrum, in turn netting the govt more tax.
5. Bite the bullet, and reap said economic benefits and use those to subsidise the replacement of older devices.

Phase possibilities:
1. Region based - maybe some regions have more 2G/3G than others. Leave it on there the longest, and switch off elsewhere.
2. Time based.
3. Capacity based - reduce capacity on 2G/3G gradually until it is frustrating enough that the move must happen.
 
Yes, set a reasonable deadline and then work towards that to free up spectrum.
 
Cactus said:
I didn't know this was possible. Learn something new every day
Click to expand...
The first 12 years of my working career I spent on Vodacom back-end systems. This was also in the time when GPRS (and EDGE) came out and I always tried to have the latest gadgets.

The first phone I had that could do packet data was a Nokia 7250i - a whopping Class 4 GPRS device, meaning it could scale up and use 4 timeslots simultaneously, 1 upload slot, 3 download slots, giving you speeds of about 1.2 KB/s up and 3.6KB/s down. Not bad considering that is what most modems could do at the time.

That might sound slow, but considering it only took 0.1 megapixel photos, sending them via MMS was quick at the 1.2KB/s upload rate.
Image002.jpg
(full size image taken with the 7250i in 2004)

It is probably the saving grace of 2G that they adopted packet switching (technically 2.5G) into it. Having worked on mainly 2G based tracking units the last decade I am confident that at least 2.5G will soldier on for a long time.
 
Forgot to add - the first phone I had that could go on the internet was a Nokia 6210, but it did so via CSD (Circuit Switched Data) so you were billed normal phone call rates, not data used. It was terrible.
 
This is a tricky question to answer. Personally, I think 2G should be turned off, but 3G kept alive for a little longer, owing to some recent handsets still not supporting LTE (devices manufactured around 2016, 2017, etc).

The mobile operators need to carefully study the feasibility of turning off 2G and/or 3G services from a revenue perspective. I hear arguments around IoT devices requiring 2G, however, if it does not make sense from a financial perspective to keep 2G, I'd turn it off anyway. Again, the mobile operators need to carefully study this.

On second thoughts, maybe it might make sense to turn off 3G; most devices come with HSDPA/HSUPA/HSPA support - I remember Cell C launched its "4Gs" network and that wasn't 3G... it was HSPA. I don't know if calls can be sent/received on HSPA. This is making me think of the differences between GSM and CDMA networks, hehehe.
 
Switch it off, use it for 4G instead
Those that need to upgrade their devices will do so
Done
 
RonSwanson said:
IOT and M2M devices need 2G. 3G can go.
Click to expand...
This is what people don't get.

If your alarm system isn't WiFi capable, it almost certainly uses 2G to talk to the control room.

That tracker in your car, yup, that too.

Your complex's Cell2Gate system to open the gate using your phone? You've guessed it!!

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is, as a developing (violent) country we are heavily dependent on 2G with millions of devices containing GSM modules.

To put this into perspective, imagine you hear someone inside your house in the middle of the night. Out of habit you press the panic button, your armed response won't know schit because they got no alarm trigger signal because vodacom turned off 2G.

Turn off 3G, it's a waste since its almost exclusively used in phones. Phones sold over the last almost 10 years are 4G/LTE capable.

For those still stuck on 3G phones, it's easier to buy a cheap 4G phone than to change your alarm system. Besides browsing things on a 3G phone must be a real pain in the ass anyway.
 
The_Ogre said:
This is what people don't get.

If your alarm system isn't WiFi capable, it almost certainly uses 2G to talk to the control room.

That tracker in your car, yup, that too.

Your complex's Cell2Gate system to open the gate using your phone? You've guessed it!!

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is, as a developing (violent) country we are heavily dependent on 2G with millions of devices containing GSM modules.

To put this into perspective, imagine you hear someone inside your house in the middle of the night. Out of habit you press the panic button, your armed response won't know schit because they got no alarm trigger signal because vodacom turned off 2G.

Turn off 3G, it's a waste since its almost exclusively used in phones. Phones sold over the last almost 10 years are 4G/LTE capable.

For those still stuck on 3G phones, it's easier to buy a cheap 4G phone than to change your alarm system. Besides browsing things on a 3G phone must be a real pain in the ass anyway.
Click to expand...
Excellent point - people do not get how many things they take for granted are 2G. I stand by my comments thus far - 2.5G (GPRS) will be with us far longer than 3G or even 4G will.
 
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The_Ogre said:
This is what people don't get.

If your alarm system isn't WiFi capable, it almost certainly uses 2G to talk to the control room.

That tracker in your car, yup, that too.

Your complex's Cell2Gate system to open the gate using your phone? You've guessed it!!

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is, as a developing (violent) country we are heavily dependent on 2G with millions of devices containing GSM modules.

To put this into perspective, imagine you hear someone inside your house in the middle of the night. Out of habit you press the panic button, your armed response won't know schit because they got no alarm trigger signal because vodacom turned off 2G.

Turn off 3G, it's a waste since its almost exclusively used in phones. Phones sold over the last almost 10 years are 4G/LTE capable.

For those still stuck on 3G phones, it's easier to buy a cheap 4G phone than to change your alarm system. Besides browsing things on a 3G phone must be a real pain in the ass anyway.
Click to expand...
I might add large-scale electric fence energisers and other security kit that communicates status and compromised zones. And the examples you mentioned are all urban. Many 2G M2M devices are in industrial settings, like factories and plants, in fluid meters and other sensors, measuring and reporting on flows of fluids, wear on bearings and temperature status of things. Many also in primary industries, like mines and farms. The livestock farmer who tagged all of his cattle, sheep and goats's ears with RFID tags and other elctronic "bells" in 2005, uses a number of reader gateways that convert the data signal to EDGE / 2G. He uses the data to track how long each cow spends at the maize trough, the lucern bales and the water trough, because analysis of the data gives early warning of medical conditions, such as pregnancy and disease. Soil moisture sensors, amongst others, also report useful information, as do remote weather stations.
 
Kill 3G but leave a part of basic GSM alone.There's still a lot of dependency on SMS for day to day messaging, both person->machine and reverse. It's going to take many companies a lot of effort to redevelop applications that currently rely on SMS, and even then that assumes that there's a functioning replacement messaging platform that is ubiquitous.

No, that's not WhatsApp.
 
Trybble said:
Kill 3G but leave a part of basic GSM alone.There's still a lot of dependency on SMS for day to day messaging, both person->machine and reverse. It's going to take many companies a lot of effort to redevelop applications that currently rely on SMS, and even then that assumes that there's a functioning replacement messaging platform that is ubiquitous.

No, that's not WhatsApp.
Click to expand...
True, even USSD is used to this day.
 
RonSwanson said:
I might add large-scale electric fence energisers and other security kit that communicates status and compromised zones. And the examples you mentioned are all urban. Many 2G M2M devices are in industrial settings, like factories and plants, in fluid meters and other sensors, measuring and reporting on flows of fluids, wear on bearings and temperature status of things. Many also in primary industries, like mines and farms. The livestock farmer who tagged all of his cattle, sheep and goats's ears with RFID tags and other elctronic "bells" in 2005, uses a number of reader gateways that convert the data signal to EDGE / 2G. He uses the data to track how long each cow spends at the maize trough, the lucern bales and the water trough, because analysis of the data gives early warning of medical conditions, such as pregnancy and disease. Soil moisture sensors, amongst others, also report useful information, as do remote weather stations.
Click to expand...
IoT or M2M 2G will not go anywhere. Considering how little spectrum a single timeslot of GPRS will take, it will be with us for a long time to come. I would actually bet it becomes a bit like 88~108 FM.

That said if 2G is killed off, I will no longer be able to use my 1996 Nokia 1610i which currently is still working.
Pak Fa Fui said:
Is sms 2G or 1G
Click to expand...
Independent - it can be done via stock standard 2G circuit switching or over 2G packet switching or even 4G (like VoLTE).
 
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defcomk said:
Then what happens during load shedding where 4G dies if you lucky you get 3G
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A good point - you are probably picking up another tower that has full 4G/5G but it is further away thus only the 3G/2G signal made it to you. The problem here is the battery backup of the tower - not the radio technology.

That said - refarmed spectrum from 2G to 4G will propagate just as well.
 
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