IBU

Consol

3g Off

http://www.berklix.com/~jhs/txt/3g_off.html

Index of Texts By Julian H. Stacey

• Your device doesn't support the 4G network
  all UK mobile networks are switching off their 3G networks
  and that includes us. As the device using your giffgaff SIM (mobile number ending ....) doesnt support the newer 4G network youll need to upgrade to a compatible device before 3G is switched off in your area to continue using mobile data.
• Why is this happening? In agreement with the UK government, 3G is shutting down to make room for faster, more reliable and more energy efficient 4G and 5G networks. Well be in touch nearer the time to let you know exactly when 3G will be switched off in your area. This change will help giffgaff deliver quicker downloads and higher quality calls for members.

• Is this just SMS + MMS + Data service off ?
  Or will giffgaff via UK carrier O2 also close phone service via 3G ?
• Hopefully old mobiles in UK still work as phones after UK cuts the older G ? as eg there's slim old mobiles emebedded by manufucturer of disability lifts, so if the lift fails disabled person can phone for help. Those people & devices dont know or want SMS MMS & data services. They just need mobile to still work as a phone.
• As it seems 3G & 4G compete for bandwidth.
• Need to review old mobiles we have (Manufacturers & Model Nos & Spec) some of which may no longer work as phones ?
• Some phones will at least still work as android USB+WLAN cameras, in which case I have uses for them, eg house security, fall detection etc.
• Some phones might be of really no use, in which case should be disposed of, options include:
  • Maybe some charities ship to 3rd world where operators might still run 3G
  • Some phone sellers (inc giffgaff.com) used to give rebates on returning old phones for new purchase, but that may be less rebate than other straight sellers.
  • Dont put in general rubbish: avoiding poisoning land fill !
  • There's minute amounts of gold etc that can be salvaged if put in electronic recycling part of council dumps.
• Reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G#Phase-out
  • Country Status Network Shutdown date Standard References Notes
  • Scroll sown to to Germany:
    "No Service .... UMTS" see below.
    Scroll further down to UK Flag
    O2 2025-12-31 (est.) UMTS [235][236] Local shutdown commenced in Apr 2025.

Reply from a mobile phone developer friend

• Phones are backwards compatible so a 5G phone can fallback to 2G, 3G, 4G
• In case anyone wonders 1G was analog wireless including NMT in Nordic countries. 2G (GSM) was the first pan European standard.
• A 3G phone can fall back to 2G. And 2G will probably never be shutdown because so much remote equipment relies on it. 3G on the other hand is not great in that base stations eat power because of all the signal processing.
• 3G modulation is CDMA, 4G OFDM, and 5G OFDM with beam forming.
• So a 3G phone can use a 2G network which will work fine for voice calls but be almost unusable for data and probably expensive. We are talking about 12kb/s data speeds.
• 2.5G (GPRS) was the first bash at making "pre 3G" data centric.
• It's a nice idea donating old phones to less developed countries BUT a lot of these countries never setup a wired telephone system and rely exclusively on wireless voice/data. They may find pre 4G unusable.