The Impact of 5G on Mobile Telephony: The Future of 3G Network Decommissioning in Belgium

2024-03-01 06:50:00

The future of mobile telephony is already being written today, and even live. 5G installation is evolving as new smartphones hit the market. And, in the coming months, the 3G network will be decommissioned in Belgium, in favor of 4G – already installed for a long time – and therefore 5G.

A development that seems logical since the 3G network is no longer used much today by users. Operators predict the end of the 3G network in 2024 and 2025. If we add to this the arrival of the fourth network operator in the territory planned for the summer, that is a lot of new developments for the telecoms sector.

But, above all, the end of 3G will not happen without a hitch for certain consumers. We are thinking of those who have an “old” smartphone that only works with 3G technology, who will therefore no longer be able to have access to the internet, or only via 2G, which is extremely slow. An impact is also expected for calls, which are reported to be of lower quality. Here are some people who will be forced to change their smartphone, even if they are rare since the latest new phones which are not compatible with 4G were marketed around ten years ago.

The deployment of 5G is now definitively authorized in Brussels

But, there is still a “but”. Some phones operating with 4G will also be impacted by the disappearance of 3G. “At issue: this technology called VoLTE (Voice over LTE, 4G calls). VoLTE-enabled 4G phones rely on 4G instead of 3G to carry voice calls. The benefit: better quality sound. What regarding VoLTE incompatible 4G phones? Once 3G is buried, they will also have to fall back on the 2G network to manage calls and SMS. The iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s from 2013 do not benefit from VoLTE technology. At Apple, support began in 2014 with the iPhone 6. For Android smartphones, it is more difficult to date when VoLTE became commonplace. Many entry-level models have long ignored its integration,” write our colleagues from L’Avenir.

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