By David Witkowski
Approximately every 10 years, wireless cellular networks around the world evolve by implementing newer generations of technology. Each generation typically remains active for about 20 years.
Older 3G mobile phones may have to be replaced. • Photo Credit: Oku Solutions LLC
The third generation of cellular technology, known as 3G, was first deployed in October 2000. This year, U.S. wireless carriers will begin shutting down the 3G network, and Santa Cruz county residents—especially those who live or travel in rural areas—should begin preparing for this transition.
First, let’s talk about why 3G is shutting down. As the number of cellular users grows, and as subscriber equipment becomes more sophisticated, older network technologies cannot keep up with user demand.
Newer technologies make more efficient use of the limited frequencies assigned to cellular use, so older systems must be upgraded. In 2000, the cellular network carried mostly voice calls and SMS text messages.
In 2022, the cellular network carries mostly high-bandwidth digital data for apps, multimedia messages, and high-definition voice calls.
Our usage of cellular networks continues to grow exponentially as users abandon wired landline telephones in favor of wireless cellular service, and 80% of calls to 911 emergency services come from cellular phones.
This level of demand far exceeds the capacity of the 3G network, and is already straining the 4G network as cellular network usage notably increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and users shifted to work-from-home and school-from-home. The need for more network capacity has risen to a critical point, so wireless carriers must shut down the 3G network to make way for more efficient technologies that can keep up with usage. This isn’t the first time older networks have shut down—the original analog and 2G networks from the late 1990s were turned off several years ago to make way for 3G, and later 4G.
Newer technologies are poised to replace the 3G network, but there may be a period of time with reduced coverage as county and city governments work to process the applications from carriers needed to make those upgrades.
Knowing that 3G networks will shut down in 2022, you should consider now whether this will impact you. Depending on where you live or travel, and what types of subscriber equipment you own, the effects of the 3G shutdown may range from non-existent to significant.
Rural areas of Santa Cruz County are most likely to be impacted by the shutdown, but it’s possible we will see impacts in suburban and even urban areas.
If you’re one of the 170 million people in the U.S. who rely on wireless cellular for your home phone use, you should turn off your phone’s Wi-Fi while in your home, and look at your phone’s display to determine what type of service you have. If your phone’s display shows 4G or 5G, you’re good to go for home service.
If the display shows 3G, or if you still have a flip-phone or an older Blackberry, you’re definitely in the impacted group, and should contact your carrier to explore options for getting a new phone. Some carriers are offering promotions on replacement phones. If you’re not interested in a smartphone, some carriers offer 4G-capable flip-phones.
Be aware that, as you travel throughout the county, you may lose coverage in areas where you previously had no issues. Again, these gaps will be resolved as the carriers bring up 3G replacement networks, but for a time you may experience dropped phone calls, and text messages may be delayed until you move back into coverage.
If you rely on cellular service for work, or for personal safety while bicycling or other forms of recreation, you will want to check coverage and have a backup plan.
The 3G shutdown will impact more than just cellular phones—some medical monitoring devices, tablets, smart watches, vehicle tracking and emergency notification services, home or commercial security systems, and other systems may use the 3G network for connection to the internet.
Some systems, such as security alarm panels, use cellular networks as a backup for wired internet connections. You should contact your equipment vendor, doctor, security monitoring company, and so forth o determine if 4G or 5G upgrades are needed and available.
The timeframe for the 3G shutdown varies, depending on which carrier you use.
AT&T is already shutting down their networks, and has said they will complete the process by February 2022.
T-Mobile is already shutting down the 3G network they acquired from Sprint, and will complete this by the end of March. T-Mobile will then shut down their own 3G network by the end of June.
Verizon will complete their 3G shutdown by the end of December. You may have service from a Mobile Virtual Network Operator, companies that buy and resell capacity from one of the three carriers. MNVO service will be affected by the shutdown dates of the carriers they resell. For example; Boost Mobile and Mint are on the T-Mobile network, Visible and Jitterbug/GreatCall are on Verizon.
In the long run, the transition away from 3G will provide better coverage and performance for our county’s wireless networks. With a little bit of planning, you can minimize or eliminate the impact of this transition.
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David Witkowski is a nationally-recognized expert on wireless communications who lives in Aptos. He is a Fellow in the Radio Club of America, an IEEE senior member, and the founder & CEO of Oku Solutions LLC. He serves as executive director of the Wireless Communications Initiative at Joint Venture Silicon Valley, co-chair of the Deployment Working Group at IEEE Future Networks, co-chair of the GCTC Wireless SuperCluster at NIST, a member of the Connected Communities Forum in the Wireless Broadband Alliance, and an expert advisor to the California Emerging Technology Fund.
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Editor’s note: On Jan. 28, the FAA said Verizon and AT&T were cleared to deploy their 5G towers near airports.
The transition into 5G has been rocky for airline passengers. On Jan. 17, the CEOs of major U.S. passenger and cargo carriers wrote to federal regulators warning of “potentially devastating disruptions” when AT&T and Verizon were set to deploy 5G service. The two telecoms postponed 5G near some airports. The FAA said San Francisco, New York’s JFK, Los Angeles, Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway, and Seattle were affected. American Airlines delayed or canceled flights. United delayed flights.
