One Communications offering 2G subscribers free handsets for more speed or lose service

Last Updated on Friday, 11 September 2026, 21:17 by Writer

One Communications on Friday warned at least 2,500 subscribers with 2G (second generation)-SIM cards that they risk having their services switched off by October 31 if they do not upgrade their handsets to 3G or 4G LTE.

The company’s warning came after numerous efforts such as SMS text messages and direct calls to those subscribers to change their 2G SIM cards or 2G handsets so that they could use faster Internet speed.

A company official is urging them to go into a One Communications location to upgrade their SIM cards or acquire a new handset free of charge to avoid service disruption.

One Communications’ Chief Operating Officer Randall Hewitt told a news briefing that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has already been informed that the company would discontinue 2G service.

“All our 2G network in Georgetown that’s still sitting there for the couple of people who have those little flashlight phones still, they will have to upgrade,” he said.

Mr Hewitt said in some instances, subscribers might be putting 2G SIM cards in advanced models and wondering why they were not working so well. “It’s because you need to upgrade the SIM card,” he said.

Another company official said many older persons do not understand the technological explanations and had not been upgrading their SIM cards.

“What we’re trying to avoid is that when October 31st arrives and you turn off the network, the 2G layer, people get disruptions,” he said.

Meanwhile, One Communications’ Chief Executive Officer Abraham Smith says as part of a three-year programme, the telecommunications provider has upgraded the technology at 35 cellular sites to ensure that there is no disruption to Internet speed during peak hours.

“We’re actually now trying to accelerate next year’s additions because we’re seeing where the demand is outpacing our expectation; the data consumption,” he said.

Mr Hewitt said among the sites that had been upgraded to higher speeds are Mabaruma, Port Kaituma, Annai, Kurupukari, and Lethem.

“You’re going to have 4G up there,” he said.

Mr Smith explained that the technological change at the cell tower sites would now allow the use of data.

While One Communications is spending US$25 million on capital investment across the mobile, fixed and subsea networks, the Chief Executive Officer could not provide an assessment for the mobile network upgrade because some of the improvements overlap.