Shutting down 2G and 3G in South Africa

Editor's Choice

31 August 2022 Editor's Choice

South Africa’s mobile network operators need to shut down their 2G and 3G network to keep up with the demand for faster, cheaper data. Decommissioning the existing networks, however, will be difficult as many legacy systems in South Africa are still using this spectrum. Already, many network operators overseas have announced that they will be switching off their 3G networks by the end of 2022, having already shut down their 2G networks.

Shutting down the existing 2G and 3G networks has huge benefits, both financially and in terms of data throughput, as the spectrum currently being used may then be redistributed to technologies that use the available spectrum more efficiently.

In South Africa, however, many customers still rely on 2G networks for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and IoT applications. This may pose a huge problem as upgrading the existing systems to use a more modern network such as 4G or 5G will not only take a large amount of time but also come at a considerable cost. The cost of upgrading the existing communication system is a factor, but so too is the increased cost of paying for communications on the 4G or 5G network compared to 2G.

One option for future M2M and IoT communications is to switch over to one of the existing communication protocols specifically designed around IIoT communications such as LoRa or SigFox. These network technologies can benefit nearly all transitions away from 2G and 3G networks by offering a superior choice due to its optimal data usage, indoor and outdoor coverage, and significantly lower connectivity and data costs. However, options to connect to these systems in South Africa is quite sparse compared to overseas, and it remains to be seen whether switching to one of these networks will actually be a viable option in the long run.

What we do know if that a solution to the shutting down of 2G and 3G has not yet been found, and this may prove to be a major headache for industry who rely on these networks for communication of their industrial measurement and control data.

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Shutting down 2G and 3G in South Africa

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