3G shutdown not likely to affect most Australian cars

Australian-delivered cars are not expected to be affected by the coming shutdown of the 3G network in the same way they might be in the US, a number of manufacturers have told Wheels.

In recent weeks there has been speculation in the US that cars, which also utilise the technology more commonly found in older-generation mobile phones, could lose certain features when the planned ceasing of 3G happened there this year.

In the US, major phone network AT&T began its shutdown on Tuesday, with other carriers such as T-Mobile and Verizon expected to do the same between now and the end of this year.

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According to experts speaking to Mercury News, a range of products require updates to continue working when 3G disappears, including; some home alarm systems, medical devices such as fall detectors, and crash notification and roadside assistance systems in cars.

This could have the potential to affect millions of vehicles, which, for example, may no longer have the ability to contact emergency services after a crash or receive updates such as location or traffic alerts for built-in satnav systems. Some cars may also use 3G connectivity for convenience features such as; remote unlocking, remote start, emergency roadside assistance, navigation map updates, and vehicle diagnostics.

In Australia however, it is unlikely the issue would have such a sweeping effect as the majority of marques selling their cars here have told Wheels they don’t use the technology and therefore won’t face issues when 3G is shut off locally. To find out if your car is affected, the full list of responses we were given can be found below.

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Spark LT

Telstra has said it will be shuttering its 3G network, which has been in service since 2006, in June 2024, with plans to repurpose the spectrum it uses and reallocate it to 5G instead. It already phased out its 2100MHz spectrum earlier in 2019.

Optus meanwhile will be reallocating its 3G 2100MHz spectrum band in May 2022, currently running two bands – 2100MHz and 900MHz. It currently has no plans to cease 900MHz, according to Gizmodo, but if a 4G device uses the 2100MHz band only for voice calls, users will still be able to access data and use text messaging, but not make or receive voice calls.

Vodafone has no plans to get rid of 3G yet, but did begin phasing out 2100MHz in 2019.

Though the American phone companies report that only around one per cent or less of their customers still use 3G, it’s understood many US carmakers still relied on the outdated tech first introduced in 2002, using it in vehicles as recently as MY21 – but on the whole most cars built in the last five years are using more modern 4G modems.

Some manufacturers there have already begun offering software upgrades or new parts to help existing hardware get up and running on 4G, meanwhile others have taken no action at all.

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According to Consumer Reports, a number of vehicles produced by companies such as; Chrysler, Dodge, Hyundai, Jeep, Lexus, Nissan, Ram, and Toyota will be affected in the US.

The news outlet claims vehicles as new as MY19 from Nissan, Infiniti, Toyota, and Lexus will permanently lose services, while General Motors' system will retain crash notifications after a software update and Audi is giving owners access to a third-party service to do the same.

US Honda owners meanwhile reportedly had til yesterday to download new software free of charge or be forced to pay more than $900 for a hardware upgrade to avoid losing certain features. The automaker is said to be sending out update reminders to owners of affected vehicles—both via mail and directly to the vehicles’ infotainment screens.

Some cars will keep convenience features, but they will lose crash notifications. A spokesperson for Stellantis in the US told Consumer Reports the automaker will allow owners of certain vehicles to upgrade to 4G to keep some remote services for a monthly fee of US$10 for two gigabytes of data or $30 for unlimited data – and still their vehicles will no longer have automatic crash notification or SOS.

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Sat nav is housed in a roof-mounted console

Brand

Jaguar Land Rover

“We acknowledge the time frame for the 3G shutdown by major telecommunications firms to switch off 3G in Australia is mid-2024 and will be able to provide an update closer to the time.”

Isuzu Ute Australia

“All Isuzu D-MAX and MU-X vehicles are not connect via a sim card, so the 3G shutdown won’t affect any features or functions of either the vehicle.

“What it might affect though, is the paired phone’s mobile network connection, which may disrupt a function of Apple Car Play or Android Auto in areas where 4G/5G is not available to their mobile devices and the device tries to revert to a 3G connection.”

Kia

“The current Kia range is not affected as [it does] not rely on any mobile systems (3G or 4G)."

Honda

“There is no direct impact to Honda vehicles from the upcoming 3G network shutdown.”

Suzuki

“This will have no impact on Suzuki vehicles in Australia.”

Nissan

“There is no impact to Nissan as we have no vehicles or existing services in market utilising the 3G mobile network.”

Ram

“Currently no Ram Truck variants use 3,4 or 5G technology.”

LDV

“No LDV products are 3G connected in Australia so we’re unaffected.”

Maserati

Not affected.

Renault

Not affected.

Mazda

“We don’t have any existing “Connected Vehicles” that rely on this network, the 3G shutdown won’t directly impact any of our models.”

Peugeot and Citroen

"Peugeot and Citroen vehicles will not be impacted by the upcoming 3G shutdown.”

Mercedes-Benz

"All Mercedes-Benz connected cars in Australia support 4G LTE. The 3G network shutdown won’t impact Mercedes-Benz vehicles in this market.”

Subaru

“No Australian delivered Subaru vehicle, past or present, will be impacted by the 3G shutdown, as no Australian spec Subaru vehicle uses 3G sim card communication.”

Stellantis (Jeep, Fiat, Chrysler, Alfa Romeo)

“There will be no impact on any of our products, as we use LTE and not 3G.”

Volvo

"Volvo Cars has no vehicles that will be impacted."

Hyundai

“No Hyundai or Genesis vehicles [are] affected by the 3G shutdown.”

Mitsubishi

“None of our cars are fitted with equipment that will be impacted by the 3G switch off.”

MG

“None at all!”

Volkswagen and Skoda

None affected.

GMSV

No models affected.

Ford

All Ford vehicles with an embedded modem are capable of operating on both 3G and 4G networks. Therefore vehicles will still be capable of delivering connected services when 3G ends.

Toyota

No impact from 3G shutdown.

At the time of publication Wheels had not heard back from Porsche, Ssangyong, GWM, Rolls-Royce, McLaren, and Aston Martin. We will update this page as responses become available.