Jio and Vi propose government to phase out 2G and 3G networks in India

Reliance Jio, one of the leading telecom operators in India, has urged the government to phase out 2G and 3G networks in the country. The telco submitted its response to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)’s consultation paper on Digital Transformation through the 5G Ecosystem, in which it suggested phasing out the older generation networks and migrating all customers to 4G and 5G services. Vodafone Idea (Vi) also supports Jio’s suggestion to phase out the 2G and 3G networks.

“The government should come out with a policy and glide path for closing down 2G and 3G networks completely so that unnecessary network costs are avoided, and all customers can be migrated to 4G and 5G services, which will give impetus to developing an ecosystem to 5G use cases,” said Jio in its response to the TRAI consultation paper on Digital Transformation through the 5G Ecosystem.

Vi said many 2G feature phone users might not be able to afford a 4G or 5G smartphone, and the government could help those users by giving them handset subsidies through their telecom service providers to exchange their old devices for subsidized smartphones. “This scheme can be funded through the existing corpus lying in the USOF. Transitioning users from feature phones to smartphones will increase the ability of rural masses to benefit from newer technologies like 5G,” the company said, as per a report by ET.

Reliance Jio is the only operator in India that does not have a 2G or 3G network, while both Airtel and Vi have a substantial 2G network. Shutting down 2G or 3G services may cause inconvenience to some users. However, upgrading to a 4G or 5G network will provide higher internet speeds and better call quality.