The 2G/3G Sunset and the EM Industry’s Infrastructure Problem
Between 2022 and 2025, all major US carriers completed 2G and 3G network shutdowns. AT&T terminated 3G in February 2022. T-Mobile shut down its 3G network in July 2022 and legacy Sprint 3G in March 2022. Verizon completed 3G decommissioning by December 2022. For the electronic monitoring industry, this created an existential infrastructure problem: thousands of deployed ankle monitors that relied on 2G GSM or 3G UMTS for data transmission suddenly lost connectivity.
Agencies that hadn’t planned for the transition faced monitoring gaps — devices in the field that could track a person’s location but couldn’t transmit that data to the monitoring center. Some vendors shipped replacement devices at significant cost. Others retrofitted firmware. The lesson was clear: cellular network technology choice is not a procurement afterthought — it’s a mission-critical infrastructure decision.
5G-Compatible IoT Networks: LTE-M and NB-IoT
The terms “5G ankle monitor” or “5G-compatible GPS tracker” don’t mean the device uses the ultra-wideband millimeter-wave 5G that smartphone manufacturers advertise. Instead, they refer to LTE-M (Cat-M1) and NB-IoT (Cat-NB1/NB2) — two IoT-specific cellular technologies that are part of the 3GPP 5G standards roadmap and guaranteed long-term support.
Why This Matters for Ankle Monitors
| Capability | Legacy 2G GSM | Standard 4G LTE | LTE-M / NB-IoT (5G-compatible) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Network sunset risk | Already shut down | Active; eventual sunset in 2030s | Guaranteed through 2035+ (3GPP roadmap) |
| Power consumption | Moderate | High | Very low (PSM + eDRX modes) |
| Building penetration | Good (low frequency) | Standard | Excellent (+20 dB gain over LTE) |
| Battery impact | 3–5 day device life | 1–2 day device life | 7+ day device life |
| Coverage (rural) | Wide | Variable | Designed for extended rural coverage |
| Data rate | Low (9.6–114 kbps) | High (10–150 Mbps) | Low-medium (250 kbps–1 Mbps) — sufficient for position data |
| Cost per data transmission | Low | Higher | Lowest (IoT-optimized pricing) |
The critical point: ankle monitors don’t need high-bandwidth 4G/5G. They transmit small data packets (GPS coordinates, sensor readings, alerts) at regular intervals. LTE-M and NB-IoT are purpose-built for exactly this use case — small payloads, low power, deep coverage, guaranteed longevity.
Power Saving Modes: PSM and eDRX
LTE-M and NB-IoT support two power management modes that 2G and standard 4G cannot match:
- PSM (Power Saving Mode): The device enters deep sleep between transmissions, consuming near-zero power while maintaining its network registration. When the next transmission interval arrives, the device wakes, sends data, and returns to sleep — without the power cost of re-registering on the network.
- eDRX (Extended Discontinuous Reception): The device checks for incoming messages (server commands, configuration changes) at extended intervals rather than continuously listening. This reduces the radio’s active duty cycle by 90%+ compared to standard LTE.
Combined, these modes explain how CO-EYE ONE achieves 7-day battery life at 5-minute reporting intervals with a 1,700 mAh battery — roughly 3× the battery life of comparable devices running on standard 4G LTE with the same battery capacity and reporting frequency.
eSIM: Eliminating Carrier Lock-In
Traditional ankle monitors use physical nano-SIM cards. The SIM determines which carrier the device connects to, and changing carriers requires physically opening the device to swap the card — impractical for tamper-sealed ankle monitors already deployed on offenders’ ankles.
eSIM (Embedded SIM) solves this by virtualizing the SIM profile. The carrier identity is stored in a programmable chip soldered to the circuit board, and carrier profiles can be downloaded, activated, and switched remotely — over the air (OTA) — without physical device access.
Operational Benefits for EM Programs
| Scenario | Physical SIM | eSIM |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier has poor coverage in offender’s area | Recall device, swap SIM, redeploy | Remote carrier profile switch, zero recall |
| Deploying devices across multiple states | Pre-provision SIMs per carrier region | Single SKU, activate appropriate carrier OTA |
| Carrier contract expires or changes | Recall and re-SIM entire fleet | Bulk OTA profile migration |
| International deployment | Country-specific SIM variants | Single global device, local carrier activation |
| Inventory management | Multiple SKUs per carrier | One universal device model |
CO-EYE ONE-AC is the eSIM-capable variant of the CO-EYE ONE platform. It supports both eSIM and a physical nano-SIM slot — giving agencies the flexibility to use whichever approach their procurement and carrier relationships require. For agencies deploying across multiple US states or internationally, eSIM eliminates the logistics nightmare of carrier-specific device variants.
BLE Connected Mode: The Battery Life Multiplier
eSIM and 5G-compatible cellular create another option: BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) connected mode. In this configuration, the ankle bracelet communicates via BLE to a nearby paired device — a home base station (CO-EYE i-Tracker) or a smartphone running the AMClient app — which handles the cellular uplink to the monitoring server.
The ankle bracelet’s cellular radio stays dormant. GPS positioning continues, but data routes through the BLE relay instead of the device’s own cellular connection. Result: battery life extends from 7 days to up to 6 months. The device only activates its own cellular radio when BLE connection to the relay device is lost (indicating the offender left the home environment without the relay).
For house arrest and curfew programs where offenders spend most time at a home address with a base station, BLE connected mode dramatically reduces charge events and extends device service intervals.
What to Specify in Procurement
For agencies writing RFPs or evaluating next-generation EM equipment, require or evaluate these cellular and SIM capabilities:
- Network technology: LTE-M and/or NB-IoT with GSM fallback (for regions where IoT networks haven’t fully deployed)
- 5G roadmap compatibility: Device chipset on the 3GPP Release 14+ roadmap for guaranteed long-term network support
- eSIM support: Evaluate whether your program needs carrier flexibility, multi-state deployment, or international capability
- Battery specification at operating frequency: Always ask for battery life at your intended reporting interval (5 minutes, not 15 minutes) on the specific cellular technology you’ll use
- Fallback resilience: What happens when the primary network is unavailable? Does the device queue and retry, or does data get lost?
- OTA update capability: Can firmware, configuration, and carrier profiles be updated remotely without device recall?
The Bottom Line for Agency Decision-Makers
5G-compatible cellular (LTE-M/NB-IoT) and eSIM aren’t future technologies — they’re available now in shipping products. The CO-EYE ONE platform supports both. For agencies planning EM equipment purchases in 2026 and beyond, specifying these capabilities protects against network obsolescence, reduces battery-related operational burden, and provides carrier flexibility that physical-SIM devices cannot match.
The 2G/3G sunset forced the entire EM industry through a painful transition. Agencies that procure 5G-roadmap devices today won’t face that disruption again for at least a decade.
