One Communications, the Guyanese telecommunications provider, has completed the full retirement of its second-generation (2G) mobile network. The programme ran in five phases between May and October 2026 and covered urban centres, coastal regions and hinterland communities. It ends the company's reliance on legacy voice and text infrastructure.

The decision rests on a technical constraint. A 2G network occupies spectrum and physical equipment that can carry far more traffic when assigned to newer technology. Switching it off releases both. The company has said the freed resources will go into its long-term evolution (LTE) network, with the aim of raising speeds, widening bandwidth and improving reliability for subscribers.

Operational investment is being redirected accordingly. Maintaining an ageing network alongside a growing 4G system means paying for two sets of equipment, power supply and engineering support, even though the older one serves a shrinking share of customers. Consolidating onto LTE removes that duplication.

Chief Executive Officer Abraham Smith has linked the move to performance targets for the network and to the company's longer modernisation plans. His comments frame the shutdown as a step in a continuing upgrade programme rather than a single event, with further work on capacity and coverage expected to follow.

Demand figures explain the urgency. Mobile data traffic across the network has risen 28 per cent, while average data use per customer has increased by 23 per cent. Those two numbers together show that growth comes from more people going online and from each of them using more data. A network built around voice and text cannot absorb that pattern for long.

To meet it, One Communications has carried out physical upgrades at 35 mobile base sites. Such work typically adds capacity at locations where congestion is most likely, so that expanded traffic loads do not degrade service. The company presents the upgrades as groundwork for sustained growth rather than a response to a temporary peak.

The changes also sit within Guyana's wider digital economy. Online banking, remote work, e-commerce and streaming all depend on dependable mobile data, particularly in communities where fixed broadband is limited or absent. A faster and more stable mobile network supports each of these uses, and the hinterland rollout extends that access beyond the coast.

For subscribers, the practical effect is a requirement to hold compatible equipment. Anyone still using a 2G-only handset or an older SIM card must move to hardware that supports 3G or 4G in order to keep a mobile service. Phones that connect only to the retired network no longer work on it.

The company says it prepared customers well ahead of the switch-off. A direct outreach campaign ran for a year and combined public notices, text messaging and targeted assistance for those most likely to be affected. The long lead time was intended to give households and businesses room to replace devices without losing contact.

Support remains available for those who have not yet done so. Eligible customers can receive a complimentary SIM upgrade, and their existing numbers will be retained. Replacement handsets are also being offered to eligible users. Both provisions run until 31 December 2026, after which customers still on legacy equipment may need to arrange replacements at their own cost.

The shutdown follows a pattern seen in many markets, where operators retire older networks once data demand justifies the expense of concentrating on newer ones. In Guyana, the timing coincides with sharp growth in usage. How quickly the remaining 2G customers migrate before the year-end deadline will indicate how smoothly the transition has gone.

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