Forum Discussion
3G Switch off: forced upgrade to a 'new' device
While I understand your irritation with the situation, I wonder if there are cost implications for Smarty to keeping 3G going. As one of the cheaper networks, this could be a problem. It might be interesting to see if any of the other 'piggyback' networks are doing the same.
I hope you can resolve the issue somehow.
There is some. 3G nodeB connects to RNC (radio network controller) where as 4G eNB and 5G gNB Connect directly to the evolved packet core negating the need for RNC.
Removing 3G from their 15Mhz paired block of band1(2100MHz) will allow them to fill it all with 4G, providing superior 4G speeds on that band.
Lastly, 3G doesn’t play well with OpenRAN and removing 3G will allow three to use more OpenRAN. Currently three mostly use Nokia which is quite expensive.
Three do still have some 3G-only sites though, mostly rural, that will be interesting…
