Operators' 2G/3G network withdrawal may accelerate

As 4G coverage deepens and 5G commercial scope continues to expand, 2G and 3G technologies are lagging behind, equipment is outdated, energy efficiency is low, and maintenance is difficult. They occupy high-quality, golden spectrum resources, resulting in limited spectrum resources not being fully utilized.

As a result, more than 20 operators around the world have shut down their 2G networks, and many operators are also shutting down or planning to shut down their 3G networks.

my country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also stated that the conditions for the withdrawal of 2G and 3G networks have gradually matured, and operators are encouraged to actively guide users to migrate and switch networks, and use limited frequency and network resources in the development of 5G and 4G mobile communication networks to reduce overall costs.

Of course, network decommissioning is not something that can be done simply by issuing a document. The biggest issue involved is the migration of existing users, such as voice, terminal, and large-scale IoT terminal upgrades and replacements. GSMA recently released a white paper on the experience of 2G/3G network decommissioning in Asia Pacific, which pointed out that it usually takes three years from the initial decision to complete closure.

The pace of commercialization and interoperability of VoLTE in my country is accelerating. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has also issued a notice to promote the migration of 2G/3G Internet of Things services. The three major operators are also releasing signals of network withdrawal and frequency clearing. The withdrawal of 2G/3G networks may be accelerated.

Conditions are ripe: the back road is cut off and the front road is paved

Recently, 3GPP announced at the RAN#88e plenary meeting that the RAN6 working group responsible for GERAN and UTRAN radio and protocol work has been officially closed. The RAN6 working group has been responsible for studying 2G and 3G radio functions and defining specifications and interfaces involving GSM/EDGE radio access networks (GERAN) and UMTS radio access networks (UTRAN).

In other words, the closure of the RAN6 working group indicates that the withdrawal of 2G/3G networks has been implemented at the standards level.

The withdrawal of 2G and 3G networks is nothing more than a matter of voice and terminal equipment issues. Of course, terminals also include IoT terminals.

In terms of voice, at present, the three major operators are constantly accelerating the pace of VoLTE commercialization, and at the same time cooperating in testing the interconnection of VoLTE with each other. Once the VoLTE of the three major operators can be interconnected across the country, it will be able to accelerate the conversion of 2G and 3G users to 4G, so that the speed of 2G and 3G network withdrawal will be faster and the spectrum utilization rate will also be improved.

In July last year, Hunan Mobile made the first IMS inter-network call to Hunan Telecom, which marked the possibility of VoLTE intercommunication between Hunan Mobile and Hunan Telecom.

Next, let’s talk about the issues regarding 2G/3G IoT services:

• On May 7, 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Notice on Deeply Promoting the Comprehensive Development of Mobile Internet of Things". The "Notice" shows: Promote the migration and transfer of 2G/3G Internet of Things services, establish a comprehensive mobile Internet of Things ecosystem with the coordinated development of NB-IoT (narrowband Internet of Things), 4G (including LTE-Cat1, that is, 4G network of rate category 1) and 5G. On the basis of deepening 4G network coverage and accelerating 5G network construction, NB-IoT will be used to meet most low-speed scenario requirements, LTE-Cat1 (hereinafter referred to as Cat1) will be used to meet medium-speed Internet of Things and voice requirements, and 5G technology will be used to meet higher-speed and low-latency networking requirements.
• By the end of 2020, the NB-IoT network will achieve universal coverage in the main urban areas of cities at the county level and above, and in-depth coverage in key areas; the number of mobile IoT connections will reach 1.2 billion; the price of NB-IoT modules will be pushed to converge with that of 2G modules, and new IoT terminals will be guided to migrate to NB-IoT and Cat1; a number of NB-IoT application benchmark projects and NB-IoT application scenarios with a scale of millions of connections will be created.

Recently, the ITU-R WP 5D#35e remote conference held by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced that 3GPP 5G technology (including NB-IoT) meets all the indicator requirements of the IMT-2020 5G technical standard and is officially accepted as the ITU IMT-2020 5G technical standard.

China Telecom: The End of CDMA

China Telecom has already started the process of withdrawing 3G network. Starting from June 1 this year, China Telecom will gradually shut down the 3G network in Yunnan.

Shen Shaoai, technology innovation consultant at China Telecom, previously stated that three conditions are required to achieve large-scale commercial use of VoLTE: first, the LTE network must achieve the same coverage as the 2G/3G network; second, the industry chain must be able to provide terminal products that support VoLTE; and third, VoLTE terminals must be affordable and easy to use for users.

Data shows that by the end of 2019, China Telecom's 4G user penetration rate was nearly 84%, maintaining its industry leadership.

At the end of last year, China Telecom had already made its position clear: CDMA mode is not allowed in 5G terminals, and VoLTE is required to be turned on by default, and VoLTE switches are not allowed.

In order to fully promote the popularization of VoLTE terminals, China Telecom will promote the launch of 100-yuan VoLTE mobile phones in 2020. It will also promote VoLTE interoperability and roaming, including interoperability between domestic operators and VoLTE international roaming. The popularization of VoLTE can accelerate the pace of CDMA network withdrawal.

As of May 2020, China Telecom has 481 terminals supporting VoLTE functions and 127 million VoLTE users. It is expected that the number of VoLTE users will reach 200 million by the end of this year.

It is understood that in 2020, China Telecom will accelerate the popularization of pure VoLTE feature phones and speed up the migration of 4G non-VoLTE users to VoLTE; create pure VoLTE feature phones in two price ranges of 100 yuan and 199 yuan to replace existing 2/3G feature phones to meet user needs.

China Unicom: orderly withdrawal of 2G network

Previously, many Unicom people said that China Unicom's withdrawal from 2G network would affect a large number of users, because a large number of IoT devices are still 2G. "2G network is the core of the reputation of mobile network quality. It affects not only the elderly, but also every user." Indeed, as of the end of May 2020, the number of 2G users on China Unicom's network was approximately 51.5 million.

This is a rather difficult task, but the withdrawal of 2G network is an inevitable trend.

Official information from China Unicom shows that China Unicom Fujian Company and Henan Xinxiang Branch will soon start the dismantling and decommissioning of old equipment such as 2G mobile network in the entire region, with a budget of 2 million yuan.

Currently, China Unicom is encouraging 2G users in various provinces to replace their phones. At the same time, it is also reducing the frequency of 2G network base stations. The most important task at present is to enable these old 2G users to upgrade their terminals as soon as possible.

At this year's "Two Sessions", Zhang Yunyong, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and general manager of China Unicom's product center, also proposed a proposal on "orderly promoting the withdrawal of backward 2G capacity from the network". He suggested formulating an overall plan for the closure of 2G, orderly guiding the migration of 2G existing users to 4G and 5G, and reducing the existing users. At the same time, it is recommended to cancel the network access license for new 2G mobile phones and control the increase in volume.

China Mobile: Stop adding new 2G IoT users

At the end of last month, there was news that China Mobile Group conducted a special investigation on IoT technology, business development strategy and strengthening NB-IoT network construction, and clearly stated that NB-IoT and 4G Cat1/1bis technologies will take over 2G IoT business, and decided to stop adding new 2G IoT users before 2020.

At the same time, in order to accelerate NB-IoT network coverage, speed up the migration of 2G Internet of Things services to NB-IoT networks, and vigorously promote the withdrawal of 2G frequencies and networks and the re-cultivation of 900MHz frequencies, China Mobile will build 118,000 new NB-IoT base stations across the country in 2020, bringing the total to 350,000 base stations.

Of course, this does not mean that China Mobile will shut down its 2G network. These are two different concepts.

It is worth noting that China Mobile has the largest number of IoT connections, but it mainly uses 2G IoT services. Therefore, how to smoothly transition these 2G users to 4G/5G networks is a big task and a difficult problem.