DICT confirms 2G phaseout underway, 3G to follow by end of September

By TechWatch PH Staff

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) confirmed on Friday night, September 19, that the phaseout of 2G networks is already underway, with 3G services set to be retired by the end of the month.

DICT Secretary Henry Aguda said the country’s two major telcos, Smart and Globe, have agreed to work closely with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and DICT in implementing the phaseout.

“Everybody is cooperating. And ito yung effort namin na pagdating ng Pasko, sana you can transact without fear on the internet. Kasi medyo malilinis na yan,” Aguda said.

(Everybody is cooperating. And this is our effort so that by Christmas, you can transact on the internet without fear, because by then things will be much cleaner.)

DITO Telecommunity has earlier expressed full support for the initiative, emphasizing that shutting down outdated 2G and 3G technologies will free up spectrum for more secure and advanced mobile services.
The move, it said, will also help protect consumers from scams that continue to exploit older systems.

Atty. Adel Tamano, Chief Revenue Officer for DITO’s Consumer Business, described the development as timely and beneficial.

“So, we’re very supportive of that. And really, the frequencies should be refined for something like this,” Tamano said on the sidelines of the “Kaya DITO” campaign launch.

Authorities noted that scammers often exploit 2G and 3G by mimicking telco cell towers and sending SMS messages that appear to come from legitimate companies, usually containing malicious links.

This type of fraud, known as a spoofing scam, uses IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) catchers that can cause serious harm to unsuspecting users.

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