Prepare For The 3G Sunset

With UK network providers closing down their 3G service to make way for faster and more versatile 4G and 5G technology, operators will need to review all on-bus equipment across their fleet which is currently dependent on 3G. This includes ensuring that your Ticketer Electronic Ticket Machines and handheld devices can continue to operate as you need them to.

What do we know so far?

We’ve been informed that network carriers will be shifting their investment and dependency from 3G to next generation 4G and 5G. As a result, network providers have announced that they will begin closing their 3G service from spring of 2023. Dates for the individual networks vary, with Vodafone rolling out their closure in parts of the UK from March 2023 but no confirmed deadline from carriers such as 3G, EE and O2 as yet.

Ofcom are continuing to monitor this and you can find further reading around the 3G sunset on their website here.

What this means for you

If you’re a customer using our older generation Ticketer Electronic Ticket Machines or Handhelds which are not 4G/5G compatible, your kit will no longer work following the networks’ switch-off. The most direct impact of this would be live access to real time information and location data shared from your equipment will no longer feed into your Portal. Rest assured that everything is stored on our Ticketer ETMs, and will be fully functional whilst offline, and as soon as a connection is restored the Ticketer ETM will send through all the data to the back-office.

However, if your operations are dependent on real time information about where each bus in your fleet is at any one time, that data would no longer be transmitted which could lead to an operational impact.

So, preparation is key!

The best thing we can advise is to consider all the pieces of equipment on your bus that rely on communications, if they depend on 3G and how reliant your business is on this connectivity. How many SIMs are currently used onboard your fleet? Do you operate in an area where you require multiple carriers to maintain consistent connectivity across your network?