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3G Sunset Dates
Learn why 3G is going away and your options to minimize the impact on your organization
Several wireless carriers have announced the sunset of their 3G wireless networks during 2022. This would effectively disable any device that you own that uses a wireless connection to communicate with a 3G cellular network.
Planned Shutdown Dates
As of October 17, 2022, these are the planned shutdown dates and statuses by carrier:
AT&T (NYSE:T)
3G shutdown date: February 28, 2022
Some markets are still on-line as of 10/17/22
T-Mobile (NasdaqGS:TMUS) / Sprint
3G shutdown date: March 31, 2022
Most major markets are currently shutdown as of 10/17/22
Verizon (Nasdaq:VZ)
3G shutdown date: December 31, 2022
While these are the official final shutdown date, carriers have been known to shut down various markets prior to the official shutdown dates. Also, any local roaming partner that these carriers depend on may shut down their local networks prior to the carrier’s shutdown date. For example, your devices could “officially” operate on Verizon’s 3G network, but when it operates in a certain market, it could be on the local provider’s network instead. If the local provider shuts down their network down prior to December 31, 2022, then the Verizon service won’t work in that market.
Why is this happening?
The cellular providers purchase wireless spectrum from the government and their radio transmissions can only operate within certain wireless frequency bands. This ensures that each provider has exclusive rights to use certain wireless frequencies and will not interfere with communications between other devices on other networks. That is how they ensure that your calls are not dropped and you can’t overhear another caller’s communications.
Over the past few years, the FCC has auctioned wireless spectrum for what is referred to as 5G technology. The major cellular carriers have purchased this spectrum and must “reallocate” their older 3G spectrum and towers to support the new 5G technology. The carriers prefer the newer 5G technology because it is more cost effective and can provide more bandwidth for higher data usage applications. This is driven by the public’s use of streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube, and others. In fact, many people will be able to replace their wired home internet service with 5G service at a comparable cost and performance. Overall, the transition to 5G will ultimately benefit the customer, but unfortunately, the transition will be somewhat painful for many users who will be forced to replace their 3G devices within a short timeframe.
Impacted Technologies
These are some of the technologies that will be negatively impacted by the sunset
In most cases, impacted providers are proactive and will reach out to their users to notify them of the issue and offer upgrade options. However, not all providers prioritize this issue equally. If you haven’t been notified, it would be best to reach out to the provider to ask which of your devices will be impacted by the sunset and if they offer any upgrade options. You can also look at the labels of your device(s) and if they display any of the following acronyms, then you will likely be impacted:
Unfortunately, in most cases, you will have to replace the device that you currently use with one that utilizes more modern technology. For most non-smartphone applications, using 5G devices is cost prohibitive and is overkill. For these types of applications, 4G/LTE technology is the most appropriate and is expected to be supported by the wireless carriers until 2030. If you are in need of replacing your GPS fleet tracking units, we offer a very advanced and compelling solution.How to determine if you are impacted
Your options
Our GPS Fleet Management Capabilities
Plug & Play GPS Trackers
To ensure a quick and easy installation, we offer OBD-II Plug & Play trackers that simply plug into your vehicle’s diagnostic port. These devices can be installed without the need for a professional installer in less than 5 minutes. We also offer “Y” harnesses that give you the ability to hide the device behind the dashboard. We even offer traditional hard-wired devices.
Driver Safety Monitoring with Artificial Intelligence
Cut your liabilities by improving driving habits and compare the safety of each driver to industry benchmarks! We have the most powerful safety management features due to our use of Artificial Intelligence to predict the likelihood that your drivers will be involved in a crash. You can monitor crucial safety KPI’s such as aggressive driving, speed limit violations, driver’s safety scorecard, industry standards, and much more!
Dash Cameras
Eliminate fraudulent accident claims and keep your insurance premiums low with dash cameras. Dash cameras also monitor distracted and unsafe driving activity to help catch poor driving habits that could create legal problems for your fleet.
Vehicle Health
We monitor more aspects of your vehicles to keep them on the road and out of the shop. We will give you your fleet’s MPG’s, diagnostic trouble codes, check engine light alerts, battery voltage, fuel level, and more.
Vehicle Inspection Forms
Our digital vehicle inspection form give your drivers a tool that they can use to identify any potential vehicle safety issues. This information is immediately available to the fleet manager so necessary repairs can be performed on the vehicles before they are involved in an accident or subject to traffic citations.
User-friendly
Our customers tell us that our solution is among the most user-friendly in the market. This minimizes the learning ramp up time required of your users and keeps your IT administrators sane.
No Upfront Costs
In order to smooth out your transition, we are offering a special $0 down offer to eliminate your upfront equipment costs. If you are interested, complete the form below for a quote.
“We evaluated several GPS fleet tracking systems and went with FieldLogix due to its ease of use, reporting features, and cost” – Krystal @ Interwest Construction
Sources:
AT&T 3G Sunset support page
Verizon 3G Sunset news announcement
T-Mobile 3G Sunset news announcement
Wikipedia 3G Technologies