by LAM LE
Global leap to 4G and 5G would cut off phone access for millions of vulnerable people.
- Telecom companies aim to profit from the 2G-to-5G transition as governments worldwide face pressure to free up mobile spectrum.
- Vietnam is the latest country to shut down 2G by offering free 4G phones to the poor.
- India and South Africa have expressed concern that the strategy would cut off phone access for millions of vulnerable people.
Last November, Nguyen Thi Que’s mobile phone suddenly stopped working as telecom companies in Vietnam permanently shut down the 2G network.
“I thought of buying a new phone, but I don’t have money,” the 73-year-old, who sells iced tea at a bus stop in Hanoi, told Rest of World in late January.
Vietnam’s plan was simple: Offer free 4G feature phones to help low-income 2G consumers adapt to the change. The strategy paid off, reducing the number of 2G subscribers from over 18 million in January 2024 to 143,000 in November the same year. The country earned a spot among a growing list of nations — including Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the UAE, Brunei, Switzerland, Costa Rica, and Jamaica — that have discontinued 2G technology.
As many as 61 countries, ranging from the U.S. and Brazil to South Africa, India, and China, have either planned or initiated the process to shut down 2G networks, according to data from GSMA Intelligence, the research wing of a telecom industry group. The goal is to enhance 4G and 5G bandwidth by repurposing the existing 2G spectrum, which reduces maintenance costs and drives subscriber growth and revenue. This has raised concerns about wider digital exclusion largely affecting the poor, making the decision to switch off 2G a complicated one.
Hundreds of millions of people globally still rely on 2G phones. Factors such as affordability, lack of digital skills, and poor connectivity have kept basic phones relevant in the smartphone age.
“If we take into consideration countries like Vietnam, like Pakistan, like India, they want to attract investment into their countries and having a good quality (4G, 5G) network is very, very important to them,” Jeanette Whyte, head of public policy for Asia-Pacific at GSMA, told Rest of World. “But to move to 5G, we need spectrum and spectrum is in short supply, it’s a scarce resource.”
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