Earlier this year our VP of Marketing, Elyssa Steiner hosted our partners from Verizon for an informative episode of “UR Tech Insiders.” It offers everything you need know about the approaching sunset of 3G, why you should invest in 4G LTE, and facts about the future of 5G capabilities.
Many unattended retail operators are unsure of what the transition from 3G to 4G LTE means for their business. We welcomed experts Jodi Bogen, a senior manager at Verizon currently focusing on the B2B markets, and who has worked on the spectrum of wireless from analog to 5G; and Aaron Feitner, an IoT client partner at Verizon, to address many of the reasons for the move from 3G to 4G.
At the time, 3G was truly transformational and played an essential role in the birth and evolution of what is today, unattended and self-serve retail. It has enabled Cantaloupe to provide our own customers with best-in-class technology and help to modernize their operations.
Aaron Feitner noted, “3G enabled unattended retail and lot of different things we previously never thought were possible. In 2011, that is when volume started to kick off …and allowed Cantaloupe (formerly USAT) customers to put units in places that were previously not possible. It was really the thing that generated a lot of business.”
And added Jodi Bogen, “Verizon is working very hard to make this as smooth a transition as possible. The 3G network has been around since 2003. It was a premier network, it is a fantastic technology, but with all good things the end does have to come. And the good news is we do have a world class 4G LTE network, which is even more impressive and its even larger than our 3G network. We do have a large ecosystem of modules and devices to meet all of the use cases that are running on 3G today.”
Some of the benefits of 4G include the consistency of the network. Think about how much we rely on the network today, and the implications to our business when there are blips or outages. The trickle-down effect is endless. However, with greater capabilities and consistent connectivity, the 4G network will improve the customer experience.
For a deeper dive with Verizon, and to get answers to the top questions we hear from Cantaloupe customers, such as:
- Why are we transitioning the networks now?
- How will 4G benefit businesses?
- How should our customers plan for 3G to 4G device upgrades in 2021?
- What about 5G?
Tune into this podcast to get the answers you need from our experts. Find out why the move from 3G to 4G is essential, and how to plan for it.
Verizon is prioritizing the migration from 3G to 4G in 2021. Visit us here if you are ready to upgrade your device to 4G LTE.