What the 2G and 3G network sunset means for you and your customers

With the inevitable 2G and 3G sunset underway, drastic changes are coming—and your customers are unsuspecting of what’s’ around the corner.

Running both networks became increasingly costly and inefficient to run, so operators decided to turn off both generations soon to free up more bandwidth and frequency spectrum.

What does that mean for you? Opportunities that were previously out of reach are suddenly up for grabs, and we’re here to give you the boost you need to beat your competitors to the high hanging fruit.

When will the 2G/3G sunset happen?

In the past, 2G and 3G offered a reliable way to keep devices connected, but that technology is decades old, and there are better options available now.

The sunset will force the adoption of newer tech like 4G and 5G, pushing forward a new generation of IoT that will help many industries become more efficient, providing plenty of benefits to the end user.

The official date agreed by all UK mobile network operators is to retire 2G and 3G by 2033, but some aren’t waiting around until then, with Vodafone and EE already announcing 3G will close in 2023.

Keep in mind, sunset dates vary from carrier to carrier globally, with some already switching off their services.

The sunset is only a problem for businesses that are unprepared

If you’re thinking you have time before the sunset is complete, officially speaking, operators only need to give you two or three months warning. And there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of IoT devices still operating on 2G and 3G. Your customers will need help migrating them all.

You don’t want them to suddenly find out the devices they rely on aren’t working. They’ll be looking to you for guidance , and we’ll be supporting you all the way.

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What should you and your customers consider?

Given how long it will take your customers to configure or decide what to do with their devices, it makes it an absolute top priority to plan and take action right now.

Many of these devices have been connected for quite some time, and often in remote places, so have effectively been out of reach for the channel as the cost of change was prohibitive. The reality now is that there is no choice, customers need to swap out these legacy devices with 2G and 3G modems or face dropping offline when the switch off occurs.

The absolute necessity to visit each site to swap out the devices brings the supply of the SIM back into play, and therefore represents a colossal opportunity for Pangea partners to win this business with our support.

Go the extra mile with migration

One thing to keep in mind is not all devices will need or make use of the speedier 4G and 5G options, and so it’s on you to give your customers an option they’re not wasting their time or money on.

That’s where tech like LPWAN comes in handy – which you can read more about here.

More importantly, they’ll want to future proof their business, so when the latest generations inevitably have to sunset too, they’re still protected. You’ll have to show them how tech that’s currently available is scalable when the right partner is involved.

Handling the 2G and 3G sunset is tricky

It’s not always clear or obvious what should be done when migrating services, so making it a seamless transition for your customers is even more difficult.

But with the right partner, you’ll be able to leave the time-consuming work with them, all while raking in the new revenue streams that are popping up.

With us, you’ll leave your customers in safe hands since we’re partner-only. And you can trust our IoT and mobile-only experts to handle these 2G and 3G migrations with ease. Plus, your customers will never want to leave you as we’ll future-proof their business, and subsequently yours.