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No one has really cared well-nigh AT&T's 2G network for years now, simply it's always been in that location if y'all needed it for some reason. That'south no longer the case every bit of January 1st, which is when AT&T says it pulled the plug on 2G (Border) data in the United states of america. Information technology didn't make a large stink near it ahead of fourth dimension because so few people had been using 2G. Yet, this move is a dagger to the heart of some devices — for example, the original iPhone from 2007.

At that place were a number of compromises necessary with the original iPhone to brand information technology a viable smartphone. It was hugely expensive for consumers at $600 with a contract. When you got gear up up on the iPhone, you'd quickly realize there were no apps, merely some web apps that Apple tree was trying to push. It wasn't until the following year Apple would launch the App Store alongside the faster iPhone 3G. Even if there were apps, y'all'd have a difficult time downloading them on mobile data — the first iPhone was 2G-just. With AT&T's latest motility, that iPhone is unable to work every bit a phone anymore.

AT&T had a 3G network when it came into existence in 2007 — it was previously known as Cingular. That network was only a few years old at the time, but information technology wasn't available everywhere. Apple chose to stick with 2G non considering of the coverage bug, but because 3G used a lot more power. The cellular modems at the time weren't very efficient.

Steve Jobs and the original iPhone

AT&T's 2G EDGE network was capable of 70-135 Kbps downloads, merely devices typically cruel toward the bottom of that. Edge was perfectly acceptable for making telephone calls, though. The 3G network footprint (and at present LTE) covers all Border service areas, so information technology'south prophylactic to shut off EDGE completely. AT&T first announced this plan four years ago, and has been working to become everyone on 2G-simply devices to upgrade. In some cases it offered inexpensive or gratis upgrades just to go anybody on to 3G or 4G LTE.

Devices like the original iPhone aren't the but objects being disconnected from AT&T's network. There are some cars that rely on AT&T's 2G network to receive updates and transmit diagnostic information. Those are much harder to supersede than a smartphone. San Francisco has besides constitute that its legacy NextMuni network has stopped working. NextMuni was used on Muni busses and trains to estimate arrival times. Not all vehicles have the upgraded arrangement in place, and that could take weeks to solve.

Verizon and T-Mobile also take preliminary plans to get rid of their aging 2G networks. T-Mobile is looking at 2022 as the end appointment for EDGE, and Verizon plans to phase out the 1xRTT network in 2022.