3G network (UMTS) ends – what next?

For years now, network operators in Europe have been announcing that they will no longer operate 3G networks and their frequencies. The radio masts and frequencies that become available are to be used for an expansion of 4G/LTE and 5G technology. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make any globally valid statements about 3G network availability in terms of continents, regions and countries. In most cases, the status and plans to shut down 3G networks within a country also depend on the network operator.

In the following comments, we therefore refer exclusively to the German market. For a long time, a shutdown was announced without a specific date, but Telekom, for example, only guaranteed operation until December 31, 2020. In the meantime, the deadline of June 30, 2021, has been fixed by the two major operators Telekom and Vodafone for the discontinuation of 3G service and communicated to their customers.

Devices with built-in 3G modem technology will revert to the slower 2G standard. This affects millions of devices. In addition to older cell phones, this also includes Internet sticks, IoT devices, vehicle communications and even remote maintenance routers. According to Telekom, devices with 2G “will then only be able to use data services and apps that have very low demands on the speed of data transmission.” In addition, there must be very good signal quality. This means that there is only a small chance that remote maintenance can still be carried out with existing devices under certain, certainly ideal, conditions.

But what if this is no longer possible due to poor signal strengths or higher demands on data transmission? We at MB connect line will not leave you by yourself in this case. Since 2013, we have also been offering our remote access routers with LTE technology. We have already discontinued devices with 3G technology from our product range in 2020 and are thus focusing entirely on future-proof mobile technologies. With our 4G/LTE variants, you are already 5G-ready today.

Permanent or on-demand connectivity is extremely important for a functioning remote access infrastructure at machine builders, but also for their customers. For this reason, we offer individual consulting sessions for our customers to maintain connectivity on existing systems with installed 3G routers and to deploy routers with 4G/LTE technology.

Please contact your sales representative for more information.

Source: https://www.telekom.de/hilfe/3g-abschaltung/
https://www.vodafone.de/business/hilfe-support/abschaltung-3g-netz.html

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