The technical shift has been announced for several years, but according to Baksa, there is still equipment left that may need to be replaced or upgraded.
It's a bit human to wake up closer to the deadline, she says.
In plain terms, everything from mobile phones and safety alarms to robot lawn mowers and sensors in water and sewage can be affected.
Free up capacity
The 2G and 3G networks are being shut down to free up capacity for the more modern 4G and 5G networks. Despite information campaigns over several years and from different senders, there are at least a dozen municipalities that have not investigated how their operations are affected by the shutdown of the networks. This is shown by a survey conducted by the Swedish Post and Telecommunications Authority (PTS).
The advice is not to wait. As a private person, you should review whether the equipment you have works with modern networks. Get help to the extent that you are unsure. Contact the supplier, manufacturer, or operator, says Baksa and continues:
For municipalities that have work left to do, get help from other municipalities that have come further.
Municipalities' plans
In the PTS survey responses from September, it also appears that only 51 percent of the country's municipalities have a plan to handle the consequences of the 2G and 3G networks disappearing.
One can interpret it in different ways. Either you have found that we in the municipality do not have that type of equipment, or that it has already been replaced and that no plan is needed. The important thing is whether you have investigated or not and take action if needed, says Baksa.
Different dates
Telenor is shutting down its 2G and 3G networks on December 1. Tele2 is shutting down between December 2-9. Tre has never had 2G but is shutting down its 3G network in December. Telia is shutting down its 3G network now in December but has postponed the shutdown of its 2G network until the end of 2027.
We have a number of customers left in the 2G network, but it is decreasing day by day, says Staffan Åkesson, technical manager for Telia Sweden.
Primarily, it is business customers. It can be alarm operators, property owners with elevator phones or connected electricity meters, he continues.
Åkesson says it's "the last percent" that's left on the company's 2G network. Once the shift is completed, the new technology will last "a very long time ahead".
Today, we have a very long horizon for the modernization that we are basically done with in the 4G and 5G networks, says Åkesson.
1G, the first generation of mobile telephony, was launched in Sweden in 1981 and meant a network where people could call each other with wireless phones.
Over the years, several more modern networks have been launched and taken over the majority of traffic in Sweden, regardless of whether it's mobile telephony or connected devices like alarms or electricity meters.
5G was introduced in Sweden in 2020.
The shutdown of 2G and 3G being done now is partly because more frequency space is needed for 4G and 5G.
Source: NE.se, bytnat.nu
