WIREDGOV

The UK’s transition away from 2G and 3G networks represents progress in connectivity – but it also exposes a deep fault line in digital inclusion. As mobile providers retire older networks by 2025, millions of people who rely on 2G- and 3G-enabled phones, telecare systems, and safety devices risk being disconnected from essential communication and support.

Our latest policy brief, 2G/3G Switch-Off: Readiness and Risk, examines what this shift means for households already facing digital poverty. The withdrawal of legacy networks assumes that everyone can afford, understand, and access newer technology. For many, this is not the case. Nineteen million adults in the UK experience one or more forms of digital poverty, and one in two older adults remain digitally excluded. For those affected, upgrading a phone or alarm system is not a routine purchase but an unaffordable necessity.

The brief highlights how, without targeted support, the phase-out could sever a digital lifeline – cutting people off from family, healthcare, and emergency systems that depend on older connectivity. Some providers are taking positive steps: Virgin Media O2, for instance, has offered free 4G-ready handsets to customers at risk of losing service. But isolated good practice cannot replace coordinated national action.

“As the UK moves toward retiring its 2G and 3G networks, we cannot allow progress to come at the cost of connection,” said Elizabeth Anderson, CEO, Digital Poverty Alliance. “The people most at risk are often those least able to upgrade – older adults, those on low incomes, and individuals who depend on telecare for safety. Unless action is taken now, the switch-off could disconnect exactly those who rely on these systems the most.”

Technological progress should widen access, not narrow it. When connection becomes a condition of participation, exclusion is no longer a by-product – it is a design flaw.

The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) calls for government, regulators, and industry to ensure the transition is inclusive and equitable through practical measures: free replacement of affected telecare and alarm devices, affordable upgrade paths for customers in digital poverty, coordinated offline awareness campaigns, and mandatory vulnerability training for provider staff.

Reead the full brief here