2G sunset by country: verified timeline

2G shutdown (GSM, 900/1800 MHz in Europe) is moving at very different speeds by country, and within a country by operator. There is no common European date. This guide covers 53countries with the source behind every entry: the operator's announcement, the regulator's publication, or the trade-press report that backs it.

How to read the table

• Off — the network is no longer in service
• Date announced — the operator or regulator has published a firm date
• Planned, no date — there is stated intent but no firm date
• No date — the network is running and there is no public plan

In 21 countries no operator has published any plan at all. That is not a gap in this guide, it is the finding. Turkey, for instance, extended its GSM licences to 2029, which is not the same as announcing a shutdown. In Saudi Arabia the operator states outright that it will keep 2G running indefinitely.

Timeline by country and operator

Why 2G outlasts 3G

3G occupies 2100 MHz spectrum operators want for 5G and is expensive to run per subscriber. 2G, by contrast, still carries alarm panels, lifts, payment terminals and eCall in older vehicles, and uses little spectrum. That is why several countries have formally committed to keeping it to the end of the decade while switching 3G off years earlier.

One added European factor: in May 2026 a European Commission study estimated that up to 64 million vehicles could lose eCall functionality under uncoordinated shutdowns, and recommended preserving at least one circuit-switched network per country until 2030. It is a recommendation, not a binding rule, and it does not override national timetables. We cover it in the lifts and 2G shutdown data study.

Migration plan for an IoT fleet

• Inventory by operator, not just by technology. Knowing a module is 2G does not tell you when it stops working. The network its SIM sits on does.
• Separate 2G-only modules from dual 2G/LTE-M ones. The first have to be replaced; the second only need a network profile change.
• Prioritise by country and operator. A device in Australia, Singapore or Switzerland has no 2G at all. One in Turkey or Saudi Arabia has no date in sight.
• When replacing hardware, avoid single-operator SIMs. A module tied to one network repeats the problem at the next shutdown; a multi-carrier SIM changes network without changing hardware.
• Budget for staged replacement. A fleet of ten thousand meters does not turn over in six months.

Method

Every date on this page comes from an operator announcement, a regulator publication or specialist trade press, linked in the row itself. Comparison tables published by IoT connectivity vendors were deliberately excluded: they contradict one another and, in Slovenia's case, an operator's own announcement contradicted what they claimed. Last verified 8 August 2026.