Optus on Wednesday announced plans to shut down its 2G network, as the Australian operator seeks to free-up more spectrum for high-speed mobile services.
In a statement, the company said its 2G services will cease on 1 April 2017.
"Greater smartphone usage and advances in 4G technology are driving customer preferences for more mobile data and faster speeds," said Dennis Wong, acting managing director of Optus’ networks arm.
"2G now constitutes a fraction of our total mobile network traffic and is declining significantly year on year. Mobile service providers globally, including in Australia and our parent company Singtel in Singapore, are closing down 2G networks to support newer technologies," he said.
Indeed, in a joint announcement in June, Singapore’s three mobile network operators Singtel, StarHub and M1 said they plan to shutter their 2G networks also on 1 April 2017.
Optus called on customers to check whether they still use a 2G-only device and urged affected subscribers to upgrade to a 3G or 4G device before the deadline.
"Our priority is to prepare our customers for this change and ensure they have sufficient time to upgrade to newer devices. Optus will provide affected customers with more details about options available to them closer to the closure of our 2G network in April 2017," Wong said. "For some customers this might be a simple SIM upgrade."
