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SILICON SILIC CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher/Editor Nicholas Vinen Technical Editor John Clarke – B.E.(Elec.) Technical Staff Bao Smith – B.Sc. Tim Blythman – B.E., B.Sc. Advertising Enquiries (02) 9939 3295 adverts<at>siliconchip.com.au Regular Contributors Allan Linton-Smith Dave Thompson David Maddison – B.App.Sc. (Hons 1), PhD, Grad.Dip.Entr.Innov. Geoff Graham Associate Professor Graham Parslow Dr Hugo Holden – B.H.B, MB.ChB., FRANZCO Ian Batty – M.Ed. Phil Prosser – B.Sc., B.E.(Elec.) Cartoonist Louis Decrevel loueee.com Founding Editor (retired) Leo Simpson – B.Bus., FAICD Silicon Chip is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 626 922 870. ABN 20 880 526 923. All material is copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Subscription rates (Australia only) 6 issues (6 months): $70 12 issues (1 year): $130 24 issues (2 years): $245 Online subscription (Worldwide) 6 issues (6 months): $52.50 12 issues (1 year): $100 24 issues (2 years): $190 For overseas rates, see our website or email silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au * recommended & maximum price only Editorial office: Unit 1 (up ramp), 234 Harbord Rd, Brookvale, NSW 2100. Postal address: PO Box 194, Matraville, NSW 2036. Phone: (02) 9939 3295. ISSN: 1030-2662 Printing and Distribution: 9 Kendall Street, Granville NSW 2142 2 Silicon Chip Editorial Viewpoint As expected, the 3G shutdown was messy Australia is one of the first countries to shut down both 2G and 3G mobile services – others have not done it (yet) for good reasons. So many devices rely on the existence of either 2G or 3G. Most countries that have shut down 3G have at least kept 2G (GSM) as a backup. The few exceptions are Singapore (since the end of 2021) and most carriers in the USA no longer have 2G or 3G networks. Virtually all other countries retain one or the other for now. Some have discussed shutting them down in future but most don’t have a specific date yet. One exception is Japan, where major carriers plan to end 3G service by March 2026. Another reason to keep one or the other is that 4G coverage is generally not as good in remote areas, so it’s good to have 2G/3G to fall back on if you’re in an area with poor 4G coverage – something that would seem to be smart in a large country like Australia, with people living in remote areas. However, I guess our politicians are smarter than their peers overseas and can get away with doing this without consequences. (Yes, I’m being sarcastic.) That is bad enough, but it gets worse. 4G is not really a proper standard and many phones implement it (VoLTE) differently. That means that some 4G/5G phones fall back on 3G to make emergency calls. Without a 3G network, they are therefore unable to call 000. It gets worse again. The government’s “solution” to this is to force all the wireless carriers to block all phones from their network if they can’t be 100% sure they are able to call 000 without the 3G network. This has resulted in many phones being blocked that do support 4G and can call 000 simply because it’s so difficult to create a comprehensive list of all supported devices. Some of these blocked devices are relatively new 5G smartphones! The word ‘schemozzle’ is the most appropriate way to describe this situation. Over half a million active devices have been blocked from our networks due to this debacle – most of which are now basically e-waste. Possibly in excess of a million devices are affected, and that’s ignoring those that have already been replaced due to the then-impending 3G shutdown. Discarding millions of otherwise functional devices can’t be good for the environment (something our government pretends to care about). It’s also a big waste of money. Some of these devices cost upwards of a thousand dollars and were perfectly functional before they were made redundant. Some, like the 3G devices integrated into some vehicles, have no obvious upgrade path. A cynical person would say that the telcos must have lobbied for this situation because it now means that they essentially have a monopoly on selling mobile devices in Australia. After all, not only can they block ‘grey market’ phones, they are legally required to do so. Remember when the NBN came along and they got rid of regular telephone lines, forcing many people to switch to 3G for services like back-to-base house alarms, asset tracking and so on? That was before the advent of 4G, so people who were forced to replace those devices about 10 years ago are being (or have been) forced to replace them yet again. Who knows how long those replacement devices will last? Will the 4G network be switched off in the near future, forcing us to replace them all again? I wouldn’t rule it out. You can read more about this debacle at siliconchip.au/link/ac2r by Nicholas Vinen Cover background image: https://unsplash.com/photos/purple-and-blue-light-digital-wallpaper-8bghKxNU1j0 Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au