Is the Philippines Ready to Say Goodbye to 2G and 3G?

In the next few years, Filipinos might have to bid farewell to their old reliable keypad phones. The government is pushing to shut down the country’s aging 2G and 3G mobile networks to free up more bandwidth for faster 4G and 5G services. This plan is tied closely with the Konektadong Pinoy Act, which is waiting for the President’s final nod.

According to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), less than a fifth of mobile users still rely on 2G and 3G connections. This may seem like a small fraction, but for many in far-flung areas, these basic networks are their only link to the digital world. With the planned shutdown, the frequencies used by old networks will be reassigned to improve newer technologies, potentially lowering internet costs by up to half, as promised by DICT Secretary Henry Aguda.

Interestingly, the Philippines is one of the last countries still supporting both 2G and 3G. In some ways, this has been both a comfort and a setback. Many people buy old Nokia or Sony Ericsson phones to escape endless notifications and social media distractions. A lot of rural communities still rely on simple phones to call or text loved ones.

However, local telcos like Smart have actually started pulling the plug on these services since 2019. The real push now is to make sure more Filipinos can afford smartphones and stable 4G or 5G connections. Tech companies like Ericsson predict that by 2029, 5G users in the country could hit 70 million, a massive jump from just 13 million this year.

Upgrading to faster networks should help Filipinos enjoy smoother video calls, clearer streaming, and possibly cheaper internet. But for some, the nostalgia of pressing physical buttons on an old phone might be hard to let go of. The challenge ahead is making sure no one gets left behind when the Philippines finally says goodbye to its old signal bars.

(via Philstar)

Photo by Kabiur Rahman Riyad on Unsplash