Mobile phone companies' 5G networks are bringing more speed and innovation to consumers, but there's at least one trade-off: To open up airwaves for 5G, the companies are shutting down older networks that many devices and services still use.
Those older 3G networks were heralded as a revolutionary advancement in bandwidth and connectivity when they debuted in the United States in 2002. Although 3G (short for third generation) started giving way to 4G a decade later, the networks still provide the backbone for older mobile phones and a host of other devices.
In particular, 3G was the network of choice for devices that talked to other devices through the internet, including some fire and burglar alarms, roadside assistance services and personal medical alert devices. And 3G has remained in use because the costs are low. Daniel Oppenheim, chief executive of the alarm and safety monitoring company Affiliated Monitoring, said the components needed to connect to 4G networks were too big and expensive for many devices until recently, which is why 3G-only hardware continued to be in wide use until a couple of years ago.
