Computerworld

2degrees 2G 2go

  • Stuart Corner (Computerworld New Zealand)
  • 15 September, 2017 13:26

2degrees has announced it will shut down its 2G mobile network in March 2018.

CEO Stewart Sherriff says it would be replaced with 4G services that customers increasingly demand, the company is mindful that there are still some customers with 2G only phones and devices. 

2degrees has not sold 2G mobile phones since 2015 and Sherriff says the company had been actively encouraging 2G customers to move to 3G and 4G phones for the past year. Those that have failed to do so now have six months to upgrade. 

Sherriff said the company would be contacting 2G customers multiple times to help them make the switch. 

The closure will also impact a number of embedded mobile communications units in ‘machine-to-machine devices’ such as payment terminals and GPS devices and 2Degreess says it will work directly with its machine-to-machine customers, some of whom already have upgrade paths in place. 

2degrees has set up a webpage where customers can check if their mobile phone is a 2G handset and review their upgrade options. 

Vodafone has yet to announce any plans to shut down its 2G network. A year ago, in response to a suggestion in the Vodafone Community web site, that 2G was “starting to ramp down” Vodafone channel manager, help & support (identified only as ‘Mike’) said this was “totally untrue.”