It’s time for 3G to ride off into the sunset

As the world gets ready for 5G today, some cellular networks and a few consumers still have 3G technologies even though they are obsolete. 3G, introduced more than 15 years ago, does not offer enough speed or capacity for modern consumers’ thirst for video and life-changing apps. Many service providers are providing significant financial assistance and incentives to enable consumers who remain on obsolete 3G technologies to leap to 5G. Any delay of the 3G sunset would hold back many underserved people from being able to enjoy the benefits of the new technology and render them second-class internet citizens. Perhaps most importantly, sunsetting 3G and moving to 5G will increase network reliability and make for better location accuracy, even vertical location. To enable these and many other societal benefits, wireless carriers started announcing plans to sunset their 3G networks years ago. As with the analog sunset of 2007 and the digital television transition of 2009, there are those who don’t want change for self-serving reasons and there is talk of delay — even though the evolution has been underway for years. But consumers know better. In fact, every day thousands of consumers are replacing their clunky old 3G phones with powerful new 5G devices. We should continue moving forward with the transition to 5G so we can get to our mobile future faster.

[Robert McDowell served as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission from 2006 to 2013. He is a partner with Cooley LLP and co-leads its global communications practice which includes wireless, technology, and broadcasting companies, among others.]