Mobile operators in Singapore will shut off 2G services in April 2017, freeing up more spectrum for 3G and 4G services.
There are about a quarter million 2G subscribers remaining in the Singapore market, down from about two million in 2011, or about three percent of all mobile subscribers. The 2G network was launched in 2004, so it will have had a lifespan of about 10 years.
The 2G shutdown would not be the first time a mobile network has been closed, as the analog networks globally also had been shut down previously,
The U.S. analog networks likewise were shut off in 2008, for example. The point is that mobile network operators, unlike fixed network operators, have experience with shuttering an older mobile network, completely.
Regulator IDA Singapore has approved a plan from the operators to shutter their 2G networks on April 1, 2017, allowing 2G subscribers to continue with their existing plans at no extra cost after migrating to 3G, and being provided with low-cost 3G phones.
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