What You Need to Know about AT&T's 2G/3G Sunset and Network Disruption to Telematics Providers

Times change and technology advances. It’s a natural part of the cycle to sunset older technology to make room for new. Sometimes, carriers have to sunset systems or programs before they completely lose their usefulness. Such is the case with 2G and 3G networks across the country. AT&T announced that they are shutting down their 3G network. Beginning February 22, 2022, the cell carrier began to phase out regions of the country. Other cell carriers have announced similar plans for later in the year.

Carriers are choosing to shut down these networks as keeping them operating costs a substantial amount of money. The technology 3G was built upon is severely outdated. Although 3G networks are still functional, 4G and 5G networks are vastly more efficient. Modern devices are built with connectivity to these networks instead of 3G.

Ideally, devices running on 4G or 5G networks should not be affected by the change. However, it appears even some 4G enabled devices are experiencing disruptions and having issues re-establishing connection. 

3G is commonplace in virtually every industry. Alarm systems, medical devices and more are at risk of losing connectivity. Even some cars will be affected. The construction industry is no exception. Telematics devices connected to a 3G network will no longer be able to send or receive data. For a lot of companies, this is a serious halt on operations.

Luckily, 3G devices are still usable, despite the loss of the network. Electronics will likely require an update to make them compatible with 4G, though updating every single 3G device is no small task. Whether each device is updated to 4G or it’s replaced with something newer, finding each electronic and fixing it requires substantial time and energy. This is even more difficult when the devices are spread across the country.

EquipmentShare has been working tirelessly to update all our devices to ensure continuity in service for our customers. Just like everyone else, we are putting our teams together to solve the problem as quickly as we can. Updates on our progress can be found within the Help Center.