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Why most countries are struggling to shut down 2G
Global leap to 4G and 5G would cut off phone access for millions of vulnerable people.
As many as 61 countries, ranging from the U.S. and Brazil to South Africa, India, and China, have either planned or initiated the process to shut down 2G networks, according to data from GSMA Intelligence, the research wing of a telecom industry group. In Vietnam, the government’s push came through state-owned Viettel, the country’s biggest telecom company, which not only dangled cheap smartphones but also sent staff to remote villages to persuade the public to upgrade to free 4G feature phones. Employees wait for customers in a mobile phone accessories shop in Hanoi.Nhac Nguyen/AFP/Getty ImagesReliance Jio, India’s biggest telecom service provider, has adopted a similar strategy for years to lure the country’s 250 million 2G users from other networks.
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