Why 2G will outlast 3G in South Africa

Vodacom plans to shut down its 3G network before its 2G network in South Africa, a counterintuitive move driven by persistent demand for ultra-cheap 2G handsets and legacy machine-to-machine devices like wildlife trackers and vehicle sensors. A 4G smartphone still costs over 16% of South Africa's basic minimum wage, making migration difficult. Government has removed luxury duties on low-cost smartphones, and operators like Vodacom and MTN have introduced subsidised 4G devices at R249 and R99 respectively. Most 3G devices can fall back to 2G, making 3G redundant sooner. Operators plan to re-farm legacy spectrum for 4G and 5G as subscriber migration progresses over the next five to ten years.