2G and 3G networks have always been reliable platforms for IoT, providing cheap, stable connectivity. However, with 4G and 5G being pervasively deployed and 6G just around the corner, the issue of sunsetting legacy networks has become urgent.
As the UK government announced an imposed regulation to switch off 2G and 3G networks by 2033, multiple telcos have decommissioned their legacy networks. Many others, including Vodafone, EE, and Three, have announced intentions to do the same over the next two years.
The rapid movement to 4G/5G platforms includes many benefits, such as freeing up spectrum, increasing cost efficiency and supporting the ESG agenda.
Investing for the future
There is a growing demand for data availability and high-speed connectivity. At the same time, with rising costs, customers are looking for cheaper services. In order to boost their profits, telcos will need to explore ways to implement cost-cutting activities across their operations, including decommissioning old networks.
Whilst spectrum is physically limited and considered the most expensive resource of telcos, 4G and 5G networks are much more efficient than legacy networks.
2G transformed communications for the industry hugely, preluding the explosion of IoT by vastly improving machine-to-machine connections and levelling up our ability to collect data remotely from devices. It was 3G and 4G that focussed on multimedia and expanding the capabilities of our smartphones.
This is why IoT devices supporting 2G and 3G are much cheaper to purchase and operate, which means upgrading to newer IoT devices will require a substantial investment from all telcos. Moreover, most operators are keeping 2G and 3G to use in limited or emergency use cases, which puts pressure on the spectrum and doubles the cost.
Whilst expensive, mobile operators will have to undergo large-scale fiberisation to meet latency and speed demands, especially in urban areas. Upgrading to cloud-native mobile infrastructure will also help mobile operators face growing demand and bring benefits by reducing costs and opening up new revenue opportunities.
Flexibility and scalability
Much of the push to sunsetting 2G and 3G networks has to do with new industry commitments to Open RAN. This new, shared, standard network technology is touted to support unfettered collaboration in telecoms.
2G and 3G are not compatible with O-RAN, therefore cannot have a place in the future of telecoms if the industry stays committed to this current path.
The growth of cloud-native solutions can also be attributed to the leap forward in network capabilities delivered by 4G and 5G. The cloud is helping to cut costs and increasing the flexibility and scalability of services.
Being standard-compliant and following a CI/CD approach, these networks are easy to launch and integrate, reducing the deployment time of new services and features. They are also easy to scale up or down, which means it’s easy to adjust the demand for the services depending on the number of subscribers whilst offering unrivalled quality and reliability of the services.
For operators, being equipped with a flexible and cloud native business support system is paramount to manage and monetise connectivity possibilities.
Moreover, mobile operators can provide new service offerings, creating innovative business cases in previously unreachable areas and serving different IoT and private network markets.
This will help provide a business case for MNOs to invest in local 5G connectivity in otherwise unaffordable areas, especially as the demand for 5G handsets rises, with some mobile networks reporting a 358 per cent increase of 5G use over the past 12 months.
The sustainability agenda
As companies look closer at their ESG credentials, adhering to the green agenda isn’t a box-ticking exercise. The telecoms industry generates over 1.6 per cent of global carbon emissions, and telcos switching from legacy networks to 4G/5G platforms could help contribute towards the overall reduction of global emissions from the ICT industry by up to 15 per cent.
Not only do 4G and 5G networks consume less energy overall, but they are also more equipped to be powered by AI solutions that can optimise their power consumption based on the demand in the region.
In conclusion, sunsetting 2G and 3G networks will help drive operational costs for telcos and allow them to innovate in other areas. The deployment of 5G networks will revolutionise the world around us, enhancing connectivity between IoT-powered devices and services and forever changing how network services are deployed, maintained and monetised.
Whilst the shutdown of legacy networks won’t happen overnight, starting the countdown now will help uncover exciting new opportunities for innovation and new services that were not possible before.