Australians relying on budget Telstra mobile resellers, including Woolworths Connect and ALDImobile, are at risk of being caught out by Telstra's impending 2G shutdown as the deadline fast approaches.
With less than a month to go before Telstra kills off its 23 year-old 2G mobile network, the telco is stepping up its campaign to upgrade stragglers to 3G/4G-compatible handsets and SIM cards before their 2G phones fall silent on December 1. Optus is shutting down its 2G network next April, with Vodafone to follow in September.
![Have an old handset or a cheap prepaid SIM? It might be worth checking if you're still on the ill-fated 2G network.](/web/20161107165330im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/l/h/z/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gshpx5.png/1478221863443.jpg)
The demise of Telstra's 2G voice network will also see the closure of its GPRS and EDGE mobile data services. Telstra stopped selling 2G-only handsets several years ago, which today account for less than one per cent of its network traffic, but not all the remaining 2G users are Telstra customers.
Some 2G users are customers of Telstra resellers — Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) — such as Woolworths Connect, ALDImobile, Better Life Mobile, Boost, CMobile, Lycamobile, Telechoice and Think Mobile.
Telstra announced the 2G shutdown two years ago but some MVNOs continued to sell budget 2G handsets and SIM cards, warns finder.com.au telco editor Alex Kidman. While these resellers now have access to Telstra's 3G and 4G networks, some customers are still reliant on 2G and might not realise that Telstra's shutdown affects them.
"You can't assume that everything is fine just because you're not a Telstra mobile customer," Kidman says. "If you're with some of Australia's other mobile brands — including two of the big supermarket chains in ALDI and Woolworths — you're actually using Telstra's network so the 2G shutdown might affect you."
"If you buy a new phone every few years you've probably got nothing to worry about, but there might be a problem if you've stuck with an old phone — or if you've slipped a SIM card from a budget MVNO into your old 2G Nokia phone and handed it to a relative to use as an emergency phone. Now is the time to check."
Affected customers may see "2G", "GSM", "E", "EDGE" or "GPRS" displayed alongside the signal strength on their handset, although some pre-3G handsets do not display the type of network they're using. In most cases these handsets are only 2G-capable and will stop working with the Telstra network, and its resellers, on December 1.
Alternatively the handset might be 3G/4G-capable but hampered by a 2G-only SIM card if the telco failed to issue a new SIM card when upgrading from a 2G handset. In this situation, the telco will provide customers with a new 3G/4G SIM card free of charge, whilst keeping the same phone number.
Telstra hasn't sold 2G-only handsets for three or four years but Australians have still been able to buy them elsewhere, says Andy Volard — Telstra's director of Device Management & Operations.
"People have still been able to buy 2G phones, such as cheap pre-paid mobile phones from larger retailers," Volard says. "We're doing our best to reach these people with text messages and letters in the post, as are our reseller partners, and we encourage their 2G customers to get in contact to discuss their options."
"The shutdown doesn't just affect phones, it also applies to medical alerts, security alarms and other devices which rely on the mobile networks to report back. We're working closely with these services but it's also important that people who rely on them check with the provider to ensure there is no disruption."
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