Much of the talk around sunsetting of 2G/3G has been about the challenges and how to address this technology shift. But what about the opportunities? How will moving away from old technologies and to newer ones benefit your business and, more specifically, your IoT deployment?
From the customer perspective, you have the opportunity to review your full deployment and replace old technologies with new ones. The new technologies often have more functionality and more data usage – or they use data more effectively, meaning you will have a longer battery life.
Much of the talk around sunsetting of 2G/3G has been about the challenges and how to address this technology shift. But what about the opportunities? How will moving away from old technologies and to newer ones benefit your business and, more specifically, your IoT deployment?
From the customer perspective, you have the opportunity to review your full deployment and replace old technologies with new ones. The new technologies often have more functionality and more data usage – or they use data more effectively, meaning you will have a longer battery life.
Energy efficiency & sustainability
Because, contributing to a sustainable society is a high priority for Tele2, the energy efficiency benefits of moving away from 2G and 3G is very welcome. By phasing out these older networks, there is a reduction in overall energy consumption, which contributes to a more sustainable operation.
New networks are designed with sustainability in mind, incorporating features such as energy efficient hardware and improved power management. They have 5G processors that are 90% more energy efficient when compared to older networks. They also have greater capacity, meaning they allow the support of a larger number of connected devices simultaneously, and offer better performance in terms of data speed, reliability, and capacity. This improved performance can indirectly contribute to sustainability by enabling more efficient use of resources and reducing the need for additional infrastructure.
Improved security features
4G and 5G networks typically offer improved security features compared to older technologies. This is essential for the increasing number of IoT devices, particularly those involved in critical applications such as healthcare, industrial control systems, and smart city applications.
According to GSMA, 5G has designed-in security controls to address many of the threats faced in today’s 4G/3G/2G networks, including new mutual authentication capabilities, enhanced subscriber identity protection, and additional security mechanisms. 5G offers an unprecedented opportunity to uplift network and service security levels.
These are the most important security improvements brought by 5G:
- Encryption
- Privacy
- Authentication
- Authorization
Increased connectivity & bandwidth
While 4G and 5G networks are designed for IoT, neither 2G nor 3G were. 4g/5G provide faster data speeds and lower latency, allowing for more reliable and responsive IoT devices. Businesses can develop and deploy IoT solutions that require high data transfer rates, real-time communication, and improved overall connectivity. New technologies are also more spectrum-effective and the same bands can be used to provide higher data throughput and more valuable functionality.
Opportunities to revamp products
Upgrading to 4G and/or 5G networks enhances reliability and speed of data transmission, as well as allowing for the integration of more sophisticated IoT devices and applications. Businesses can capitalize on this by exploring the potential for enhanced functionality, improved analytics, and real-time data processing.
Depending on bandwidth requirements, businesses may also consider investing in IoT-specific Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) technologies such as NB-IoT or LTE-M, which are often the obvious choice for 2G/3G replacement, with low usage requirements and a long lifecycle of 10+ years.
If you would like to learn more about how to address sunsetting of 2G/3G and how new technologies can benefit your IoT deployment, please get in touch.
Product Manager
Tele2 IoT