Story: News Desk
MTN Ghana has announced that it will adopt a gradual approach in winding down its 2G and 3G networks, ensuring that subscribers are given ample time to adjust to newer technologies.
Addressing journalists at the Digital Africa Summit in Accra, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Blewett, acknowledged that a significant section of customers still depend heavily on 2G and 3G services.
He observed that while some deliberately remain on these networks to control data usage, many others continue to use handsets that are not 4G-enabled.
“Despite the widespread availability of 4G, a lot of our customers are still on 3G. For some, it is about managing their data consumption, while others are constrained by devices that cannot support 4G,” Mr Blewett explained.
He stressed that MTN’s long-term plan was to improve spectrum efficiency by eventually switching off the older networks but said the process would be carefully managed.
“We cannot simply switch off 2G and 3G without ensuring that affordable 4G devices are within reach. Doing so would risk excluding a large number of Ghanaians,” he cautioned.
2 thoughts on “MTN to shutdown 2G and 3G services”
This article is useful for Ghanaian users in general, especially those who are still using 2G/3G devices or networks — giving them a heads up to move to a new 4G-enabled device soon.
The education must include consumer awareness about hand set purchases. Users must ask about, and ensure they are buying devices that are compatible with 4G networks. It may be quite beneficial for MTN to publish a list of phones that are not 4G/LTE compliant and those that are, if its not against the law. Because users know brands and models but not the hardware specifications that distinguish 3G from 4G technologies.