AT&T Will Shut Down 2G Network By 2017

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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May 9, 2000
Messages
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AT&T has announced plans to completely shut down its 2G network by the end of 2016. The company will concentrate on the small number of its customers who rely on the 2G technology and move them over to 3G or 4G by the time of the shutdown.

The carrier claims that only 12 percent of its users currently use 2G-only phones. That number should hopefully decrease without much effort on AT&T’s part over the next four years.
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I'll miss being able to use EDGE to have working Internet at crowded venues like sports stadiums...
 
Bleeping ATT shut down their analogue cell phone service, bricking my bag phone.
 
But but my little Nokia 3595 is running strong. It is due to get a new battery. With the original one, I have to charge every night unlike when it was newer a charge for me would last 2-3 days. It still has the original Cingular sim card.

I have dropped this phone several times and still have the original case. In the same time, My brother has gone thru about 4 smart phones and my mom has gone thru about 3 smart phones all due to failures or damage. A phone my mom had that was a flip type broke on her at the hindge when she opened it to call me that she was at baggage pickup. Only stayed usable due to the lether cover holding it.
 
I don't see it as too big a problem, except that I go a lot of places where edge is all that is available currently. If they are upgrading those towers then aside from a few older devices I no longer use regularly I will not even notice it. It will suck for people that want to keep using their older devices though.
 
GORANKAR said:
I don't see it as too big a problem, except that I go a lot of places where edge is all that is available currently. If they are upgrading those towers then aside from a few older devices I no longer use regularly I will not even notice it. It will suck for people that want to keep using their older devices though.
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Think who we are talking about here. I seriously doubt they are "upgrading" anything. The article says that "12% of users use 2g phones". That means that ATT is just focused on what phones people have, not their network coverage.

The only reason that they would focus on getting rid of 2G phones is to save money. Upgrading towers doesn't save money, turning them off does.
 
my guess is that they will be converting the spectrum used for 2g and upgrading it to 3g. so if anything it should be an improvement
 
TMCM said:
my guess is that they will be converting the spectrum used for 2g and upgrading it to 3g. so if anything it should be an improvement
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Seen any new tower around you lately? Those are fiber-fed towers. Basically little CO's that have cell towers instead of cable coming out of them. 2G only towers are not fiber-fed, they are cable fed. Cable-fed towers are more expensive to maintain because copper is more labor intensive to maintain and offers little room to upgrade. Some 2G towers are fiber-fed, but they are fed by the ATM phone network fiber, not the PTM fiber ring like "modern" towers.

There is no way that they is going to run brand new fiber miles and miles just to upgrade an old tower.
 
OK now I am sufficiently sad. There are places I go that only barely get edge as it is. If they turn those towers off without upgrading, I will have to look at a competitors coverage in those areas. I no longer travel abroad, so I am no longer as tied to having a single GSM phone that worked everywhere I went. If Verizon, or Sprint offer better coverage in the areas I go, I may have to switch when the time comes. I don't have any contract phones with ATT so it will be cheap and easy to switch.
 
I suspect the big money isn't just in towers but also moving everyone off their 2g data plans.
 
Hope t-mobile doesn't due this any time soon.

By turning off 4G, I can extend the battery life on my S III to almost 2 full days. With 4G on, the battery level drops more than 2x as fast. Alot of this is due to the poor 4G signal strength at my house (only 2 bars)
 
Guess that means that they have to actually bring 3G service to the areas here where we only get GPRS/EDGE. Unless their plan is to have 3G/4G phones drop back to GPRS now...Yea, it's AT&T, wouldn't put it past them.
 
Wonder if I could get a startac phone to play with on the 2g now??
 
oh no you don't.

I'm not giving up my trusty phone-

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Hey, maybe in 2017, I'll get to replace my company Blackberry 8820 since it only does EDGE-ness! :p
 
Medion said:
Guess that means that they have to actually bring 3G service to the areas here where we only get GPRS/EDGE. Unless their plan is to have 3G/4G phones drop back to GPRS now...Yea, it's AT&T, wouldn't put it past them.
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If they turn off GSM 2G, you won't have GPRS.
 
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