2G or not 2G; EE finally answers the age-old question
EE has announced it will upgrade 600 sites across the country to shut down some of its 2G airwaves to make 4G stronger in certain regions.
The sites, which are located across London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff, will be upgraded with the latest 4G spectrum over the next six months. The same sites will also be upgraded to support ‘Cat 12’ and ‘Cat 16’ modems, which are going to feature in the latest wave of flagship smartphones over the next few months.
In theory, with the new upgrades the sites will be able to support download speeds of 100 Mbps, instead of the practically prehistoric 50 Mbps which customers are currently experiencing.
“We keep investing in our network, and using our technology leadership to make sure customers are getting the most out of the latest smartphones,” said Marc Allera, EE CEO.
“Customers need to be on 4G, getting the best out of their new devices with the highest quality phone calls and the fastest mobile data speeds. We’re converting 2G into 4G, because that’s what our customers need. So if you are choosing a new smartphone, the message is simple: there’s only one UK network that offers the best smartphone experience.”
But how does it work? EE’s fastest mobile sites are equipped with 20MHz of 1800MHz spectrum, and 35MHz of 2.6GHz spectrum. Refarming another 10MHz of 1800MHz spectrum from 2G to 4G at these sites will further increase speeds and reliability.
The refarming of these airwaves is also supported by the introduction of 4×4 MIMO, as well as the roll out 256QAM. Both of these technologies will improve the efficiency of the spectrum.
But don’t worry. For those who bought the relaunched Nokia 3310 earlier this year, which happens to only work on 2G, EE isn’t refarming all of the 2G airwaves. For now at least, you can continue to be an attention seeking hipster if you so desire.
Not a complete answer. Two of my cars need a 2 g signal to power their built in phones. No alternative system exists, and my Samsung smartphone does not charge from the cigarette lighter.
Would be great if my Motorola v50 flip phone would wirk for another few years.
2G is going to be around for long time in the UK regardless of some sites saying EE and Vodafone have announced 2G will shut down in 2025.
O2 and Vodafone especially still have a lot of devices and equipment still using their 2G networks such as smart meters and the majority of 2G only phones.
3G can go first, usage is very low and most 3G phones will switch to 2G if it does switch off. If you really want to keep a 3G phone then it will use 2G for calls and texts but you’d have to use WiFi for Data because 2G GPRS is just too slow