AT&T, the operator of the largest 2G GSM network in the United States, has decided to shutdown the AT&T 2G GPRS network on January 1, 2017. AT&T made this decision in order to reallocate spectrum to 4G customers. The AT&T 2G shutdown has huge implications for M2M and IoT companies. There currently are millions of 2G GPRS devices connected to the AT&T 2G network. For the M2M and IoT companies which own those devices, deciding on their connectivity strategy for 2017 and beyond is very urgent.

The 2 major GSM networks in the United States, AT&T and T-Mobile, are both offering very unattractive alternatives.

For an M2M or IoT company to remain on AT&T’s network after the January 1, 2017 2G GPRS network shutdown, they will need to purchase expensive hardware upgrades to 3G or LTE equipment. For many M2M applications the cost of upgrading is not justified by their revenue model. In addition, the faster speeds provided by 3G or LTE are not necessary nor required.

Alternatively, M2M / IoT companies can contract directly with T-Mobile and migrate to the T-Mobile 2G network. But this solution requires playing T-Mobile extremely high monthly minimums per SIM card. For many M2M applications, very small amounts of data are transferred each month. Paying a very high monthly minimum makes these applications unprofitable.

M2M / IoT companies are in great need of third alternative which allows them to maintain their current 2G GPRS devices without having to pay extortionately high monthly fees per SIM. Fortunately, the OneSimCard M2M program offers such a solution.

The OneSimCard M2M Solution for the AT&T 2G Shutdown

OneSimCard www.onesimcard.com offers current AT&T 2G M2M customers the option to continue using their 2G GPRS devices on the T-Mobile network, via the OneSimCard platform, without having to pay high monthly minimum fees.

To learn more about OneSimCard M2M offerings, please go to: www.onesimcard.com/machine-to-machine-communications-sim/ or contact us at: M2M@onesimcard.com