3G-connected cars — including some that are only a few years old — may require software or hardware upgrades, or could lose automatic crash notifications and other features entirely.
As much as 10% of all public school buses across the country will lose GPS and communications services, according to a filing from AASA, The School Superintendents Association.
San Francisco warned bus riders that more than 650 prediction display systems at bus shelters that rely on AT&T’s 3G service will stop displaying real-time information.
An alarm industry group says roughly 2 million devices powering burglar intrusion systems, fire alarms and personal emergency alerts will go offline.
Change is inevitable and constant, but supporting legacy equipment is big concern in the tech industry. Unfortunately even with enough warning and discussions there will be situations where upgrades did not happen in a timely fashion. The major carriers in the US all have plans to sunset 3G service within the next year, so timing is of upmost important for these providers of services that rely on 3G. Delaying the disabling of 3G may make sense in the short term, but the question remains: Why did it take getting close to a deadline for companies to react? Would the next deadline be any different?
