[Mercenary]

Singapore is going to shut off the 2G network completely, meaning if you use an old flip-phone or "brick" phone you will either be forced to use a smartphone or have no phone at all.


Source:
http://www.straitstimes.com/tech/smartph...jan-1-2017

Quote:

No more sale of 2G mobile devices for local use from Jan 1, 2017

Published
Dec 7, 2016

SINGAPORE - The sale of 2G-only mobile devices that are for use in Singapore will not be allowed from Jan 1, 2017. The sale of the such devices for export or overseas use will still be allowed, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said in a release on Wednesday (Dec 7). Retailers and equipment suppliers who breach this licence condition could be fined. By April 1, 2017, 2G networks will be retired and mobile network operators will cease providing 2G mobile services. "The retirement of the legacy 2G networks will allow IMDA to re-allocate scarce radio frequency spectrum to meet the increasing demand for higher-speed mobile data and more advanced mobile services," IMDA said. IMDA will work with the three telcos - M1, Singtel and StarHub - to continue to facilitate the migration of 2G users to 3G or 4G networks, it said.

Some 160,000, or 2 per cent, of mobile lines in Singapore are still based on the older 2G services, according to figures reported in November. "Customers with 2G mobile phones may upgrade their devices while still maintaining their current plans and prices with no additional subscription costs," IMDA said. It advised affected users to approach the telcos for help. "IMDA strongly encourages consumers and enterprises to replace their 2G-only mobile devices with 3G or 4G-capable mobile devices before April 1, 2017 to avoid disruption to their mobile services," it said.

[T and A Man]

Australia did it 1st December

[Suits]

I guess I won't be able to live in Singapore after all.

[DJ-Matt]

Not exactly, AT&T is doing similar things here with the old 1st gen GSM technology in big markets where they need the spectrum back. They re-farm the frequency band with UMTS and shut off EDGE and 1G technology. No need to switch to a smartphone though, they make plenty of flip phones with newer technology.

The interesting thing about the CDMA technology here in the states is that it never has been upgraded or changed other than the shut off of AMPS analog service in 2006. The majority of phones still fall back to 1G CDMA 1X for voice calls. The great unifying technology in the long run will be VoLTE where the LTE circuits are used for voice calls, hopefully with better codecs that sound less like 1997.

I believe Verizon has stated the sunset for 1X CDMA is 2020 so all those old legacy devices and ATMs, etc. will have to be upgraded before then.

[jayko]

is the no.1 costliest city in the world, so, no thanks.

[Mercenary]

[armenia4ever]

At least when you burn through your 5 GB of 4g data, it can't be throttled down to 2gb for the rest of your "unlimited" data on your plan.

[Sancho]

Aren't certain kinds of older phones popular with drug dealers and the like?
I remember reading about a nokia phone that was popular because cops couldn't trace it or something.

Was that a factor in this decision?
Or is it simple a matter of retiring obsolete equipment?

[The Beast1]

(12-12-2016 02:36 PM)Sancho Wrote:  

Aren't certain kinds of older phones popular with drug dealers and the like?
I remember reading about a nokia phone that was popular because cops couldn't trace it or something.

Was that a factor in this decision?
Or is it simple a matter of retiring obsolete equipment?

Retiring old equipment.

RF Spectrum is a finite resource. There's only so much of it to go around.

Older technologies like this are inefficient uses of those spectrums.

This happened in the US with the closure of the older AMPS networks. A vocal minority were mad because it would kill of things like GM's Onstar system using the older network.

[GlobalMan]

(12-12-2016 11:53 AM)jayko Wrote:  

is the no.1 costliest city in the world, so, no thanks.

I don't know the method used for compiling the ranking you saw, but from my experience that is completely wrong. I find it less expensive than a dozen places in EU and U.S.

Those rankings are almost always terribly wrong because they're comparing prices using a universal standard for home size etc when that is silly to do. Most people wouldn't purchase a 3 bedroom 2 bath free standing home in Tokyo for example, but they use that to compare prices to Denver.

[CynicalContrarian]

(12-12-2016 07:25 AM)T and A Man Wrote:  

Australia did it 1st December

Telstra 2G dies on NYE.
Optus cut their 2G next April I believe.

Vodaphone retain their 2G until - 30 September 2017.

[dasher]

(12-13-2016 04:52 AM)CynicalContrarian Wrote:  

(12-12-2016 07:25 AM)T and A Man Wrote:  

Australia did it 1st December

Telstra 2G dies on NYE.
Optus cut their 2G next April I believe.

Vodaphone retain their 2G until - 30 September 2017.

Telstra cut off their 2G on the first.

I work at a phone shop in a shitty area and all the african refugees or whatever were coming in asking why their lycamobile (ultra budget telstra reseller for international calls) wasn't working anymore.

There are candybar / brick style phones suitable for 3G-850 (telstra) and 3G-900 (optus / vodaphone) but I've not seen ones that support both. Unlock codes for these are inexpensive off ebay ($2-5 aud) if you want to use a cheaper vendor. These phones are often on special from woolies or coles for $10 to 15 as well.

Telstra: https://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones...ruise-t126

Optus: http://www.optus.com.au/shop/prepaidmobile/zte/f286

[Valentine]

(12-12-2016 02:36 PM)Sancho Wrote:  

Aren't certain kinds of older phones popular with drug dealers and the like?
I remember reading about a nokia phone that was popular because cops couldn't trace it or something.

Was that a factor in this decision?
Or is it simple a matter of retiring obsolete equipment?

Moreso that smartphones are easier to hack and provide more useful data to police.

4G connection means rogue updates can be more reliably pushed via a IMSI-catcher (stingray) and of course smartphones contain far more data and metadata than their dumb counterparts.

To combat this there is an IMSI-catcher detector app for Android but your phone is still vulnerable to being hacked.

You need hardware baseband isolation - your baseband processor no longer having access to your device fully. So either use a Neo 900 (still in development) or a tablet + a portable WiFi router.

Phones are extremely vulnerable privacy liabilities because of this weakness so yes, they're not closing down 2G out of the goodness of their heart.

[Mercenary]

[Befikre]

I heard people say Singapore is like living in the Matrix. Fuck that.

[Suits]

Problem solved:

https://www.cnet.com/news/nokia-207-and-...3g-phones/

Quote:

Nokia 207 and 208 are 'most affordable' 3G phones

The Nokia 207 and Nokia 208 are two new budget-friendly 3G phones that Nokia says will be the "the most affordable yet".

The Nokia 207 and Nokia 208 are two new budget-friendly 3G phones that Nokia says will be the "the most affordable yet".

Both phones are traditional candybar devices, with a comfortingly old school nine-button keypad beneath the screen. They come in Nokia's signature colourful casings, in red, blue, yellow, white and black.

The smaller screen and lower power means longer battery life: up to 33 days of standby time for the Nokia 207.

But it's not all old-school: the phones connect to the Internet with 3G HSPA so you can access your Exchange emails and social networks such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. And the 208 even has a camera!

Nokia suggests the new phones can be used as either a budget phone for those who don't want smart phones' whistles and bells, or as a backup when you want to leave your smart phone at home. You can tether it to your laptop too, to get online via a phone signal.

There's a SIM-swapping dual-SIM version of the 208: two SIM cards in the phone that you can switch between at the touch of a button. When abroad, for example, you can keep your home SIM to take calls from home, and also have a foreign SIM to make cheap local calls wherever you are.

As for prices, Nokia promises the 207 and 208 will be "our most affordable 3G devices yet". Nokia hasn't confirmed whether the new phones will come to the UK, but lays out a European price of €52 (£45), to go on sale this autumn.

[Mercenary]

[Suits]