"From December 1st, your mobile phone will be blocked from making and receiving calls due to lack of support for emergency calls," Tele2 writes in an email to affected customers.
On December 1, Tele2, Tre and Telenor will begin shutting down their 2G and 3G networks in Sweden, to free up capacity for the more modern 4G and 5G networks. This means that older mobile phones and other connected electronics that do not support 4G or 5G will need to be replaced.
The technology shift has been known for a long time, but recently the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) became aware that additional mobile users will be affected. Some phones will not be able to reach the emergency number 112 via the operator's own network after the shutdown, even though they use 4G.
"I can't say how many people it is. But it's tens of thousands," says Petter Öhrn, press officer at PTS, to Senioren .
Blocked already now
According to the authority, Tele2, Tre and Telenor rely on emergency calls from the mobile phones in question to switch to Telia's 2G network, which will remain operational until 2027. But that solution is not secure enough, according to PTS, which decided on November 21 that the phones will be blocked by the operators from February 2, 2026.
According to PTS, these are phones that have 4G, including the special technology that enables voice calls over 4G (VoLTE), but which do not specifically support emergency calls over 4G/VoLTE.
For phones that require a special measure, such as removing the SIM card to connect to Telia's network, the blocking requirement applies from December 1.
“The alternative is worse”
The authority has required operators to identify and contact all affected customers who will need to change mobile phones or change operators.
"We understand that it can be burdensome for users who now need to change phones or operators. At the same time, the alternative is worse. We cannot risk people thinking they have a functioning telephone service, and then it turns out that they cannot reach 112," said PTS Director General Dan Sjöblom in a press release in connection with the decision.
