How should I prepare my IoT fleet?

How 2G and 3G shutdowns impact an IoT fleet goes beyond connectivity loss. Devices that go offline can disrupt service availability, break automated data collection pipelines, trigger compliance gaps in regulated industries, and create unplanned hardware replacement costs across large installed bases.

The scale of your exposure depends on three things:

• How many devices in your fleet are 2G- or 3G-only
• Where they are deployed geographically
• How critical they are to operations

Start with a full IoT device audit. Identify every asset still using GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS or HSPA modules, map each against the confirmed shutdown timeline in every country you operate in and classify by business criticality. For devices that are 2G- or 3G-only, plan hardware migration lead times carefully. Sourcing, integration testing, logistics and field deployment across a large fleet can take 12 to 24 months and sometimes even more.