As 3G Sunsets in Canada

Cellular technology has quickly become the gold standard for both residential and commercial security and life safety. It’s unparalleled in its reliability and puts control of the system in the hands of the client and the provider rather than the telecom companies, who are often not as quick to respond when issues arise. One downfall, however, is that the speed at which this technology continues to evolve can make older devices obsolete faster than ever in our industry.

 

The United States recently underwent the sunset of all 3G technology and devices, and we’re on the verge of doing so here in Canada as well in the coming months. Here are when Canada’s primary telecom providers intend to make the transition:

 

• Rogers: July 31, 2025

 

• Telus: December 31, 2025

 

• Bell: Anticipated to begin December, 2025

 

While this is ultimately a good thing – technology is improving and becoming even more reliable! – it presents challenges as well. By learning from the recent U.S. example and understanding what was successful and what mistakes were made, we can ensure this transition goes smoothly for our Canadian customers.

The upcoming 3G sunset is much less a challenge of changing out obsolete equipment than it is of communication. The transition will largely be seamless, provided our customers and clients understand the timeline and some key issues. Unfortunately, the vast majority of our end users likely have no idea this sunset is coming (or possibly even what a sunset means in this context).

 

For most of us, our largest interaction with cellular technology is through the use of cell phones, and we generally change or upgrade those devices every few years. The technology changes quickly, but we change quickly with it, and are blissfully unaware that the technology that powered our phones a decade or more ago has been phased out.

 

Since alarm systems are such a niche portion of the broader cellular landscape, it makes sense that there hasn’t been a large-scale communication effort around the 3G sunset. The responsibility falls to us to make sure our clients and customers understand how this change may impact them and what simple solutions will make this a seamless transition.

The first step is making our customers aware that this change is on the horizon. The second is to lead them towards a replacement solution that is both long-lasting and adaptable. While we would love to offer a solution that makes any future sunsets a non-issue, that’s unrealistic as we can’t possibly predict how technology will evolve 5, 10, or 20 years down the road. We can, however, offer the LTE-M technology used in today’s Telguard equipment that not only uses today’s LTE networks, but can also utilize 5G networks, making it immune to an eventual 4G sunset, whenever that may be. Telguard also complements the LTE-M technology with multi-carrier roaming in Canada, which allows any of the communicators (residential or commercial) to utilize any of the major networks in Canada (Rogers, Telus, Bell, and Sasktel). This is important because even when changes occur, different carriers do things on their own timelines, so having a communicator that can use different carriers gives customers a bigger runway to handle any carrier-specific events.

Every customer is different, and not every tactic here will be applicable in all situations, but the key takeaway is universal: The more you get ahead of the sunset, the more success you’ll have in upgrading devices. Don’t let your customers be surprised or forced into last-minute decisions – that creates a flight risk and can sour the relationship. By being proactive, you can strengthen your relationship with your customers and grow your business.