Imminent blackout of 2G and 3G networks: the challenge for Mobile Operators

The retirement of the 2G and 3G networks is soon to happen. With the optimization of 4G and the deployment of 5G, telecommunications companies in the world are actively planning to disconnect from these technologies. But do we really know what this decision responds to and, above all, what it will mean?

If we take into account 5G, in the last 40 years Latin America has experienced five different mobile phone technologies (1G, 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G). However, it is inevitable that when one technology prevails over another, the first one ends up disappearing.

Today we live in a period of transition. The blackout is due to a reduction in maintenance costs of those networks that are in sustained decline and are practically in disuse. And, on the other hand, the need to take advantage of the radioelectric spectrum that the 2G and 3G networks will leave after their disappearance. This will gradually give way to the arrival of new generation networks with better capabilities, greater bandwidth and speed, as well as new and innovative services.

Register for free for GTC 2022 here

---

Voice calls: those affected by the blackout

With the revolution that 5G implies, the coexistence of networks will continue for a while. However, with the progressive blackout, new ways of understanding and operating networks will be born for Telcos and, most importantly, an exponential growth in the number of subscribers and connected devices.

But, what is really the challenge posed by the blackout of 2G and 3G networks? How does it affect the Telco industry in general and subscribers in particular? Indeed, there is an important challenge that is hardly known and that has to do with the fact that the standard of 4G and 5G technologies does not contemplate voice calls.

That is, there will be no voice calls as we know them right now. Today, when a user who walks down the street browsing from his cell phone in 4G / 5G receives a call, he needs to do it in 2G or 3G. So far it has worked flawlessly and transparently to the end user.

Applications such as WhatsApp or Skype allow you to make voice calls in 4G and 5G, but they have some limitations and, in addition, they require both parties to have the application installed in order to carry it out, which is inevitably a problem and a stopper in the strategy country to eliminate the digital divide.

In this sense, to solve this problem, it will be necessary for Mobile Operators to deploy the new VoLTE technology -Voice over LTE-, which will allow them not only to make calls, but also to enrich their voice services with calls in high definition. , more stable and of better quality -even in environments with a lot of interference-, with much faster call establishments, with better coverage and lower battery consumption.

The final subscriber will be required, on his side, to have a state-of-the-art terminal that supports this technology. If we take into account the average renewal time of our cell phone, we should think that in the next two or three years everyone should have a mobile terminal ready to operate with VoLTE. It is necessary, therefore, that the final subscriber be aware of this fact, and take it into account in their search process when it comes to renewing their cell phone.

New opportunities

It can be foreseen that the disconnection of the 2G and 3G networks at an international level will not be carried out in an organized or consensual manner, but will depend exclusively on the Telecommunications Regulators of each country and, to a greater extent, on the Own Mobile Network Operators.

In this way, we can see a marked difference in the decision-making and in the execution of this measure. While in the US they have already proceeded to blackout their 2G network and are preparing to disconnect their 3G network by the end of 2022, in the Latam region, only some operators, in some countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Chile or Brazil have already done so. public its intention to proceed with the blackout of its 2G network throughout this year, and in Europe some operators such as Telefónica in Germany, Vodafone in the United Kingdom or Telecom Italia are preparing the definitive shutdown of their respective 3G networks for this year.

By Rodrigo Mena, Country Manager of Suma Móvil Chile