Yes. South Africa is actively sunsetting its legacy 2G and 3G networks. While the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) and ICASA have revised initial hard shutdown deadlines, the direction is irreversible: mobile network operators (Vodacom, MTN, Telkom) are systematically re-farming legacy 900 MHz and 2100 MHz radio spectrum to expand 4G and 5G capacity.

For school computer labs, university engineering departments, and makers, this brings an immediate practical consequence: buying cheap 2G GSM breakout boards today is a waste of budget. Projects built around 2G hardware will degrade in reliability as tower carriers drop carrier channels, and will ultimately go dark.

The Cheap Hardware Trap: Why SIM800L Boards Are Everywhere

For the past decade, the default cellular IoT module in South African classrooms has been the SIMCom SIM800L. It costs between R80 and R150, works with standard Arduino microcontrollers over UART, and lets learners send an SMS alert or an HTTP POST request with four lines of AT commands.

Educational kit suppliers still bundle these modules because they are cheap to clear out of warehouse inventory. However, these boards are 2G-only (GSM/GPRS). Telkom has already decommissioned its 2G network entirely. Vodacom and MTN maintain narrow 2G channels primarily to support legacy point-of-sale terminals and utility meters, but base stations under load or undergoing tower upgrades are steadily dropping 2G time-slots.

When a learner tests a SIM800L weather station in a suburban classroom today, it may intermittently connect or drop off the network without explanation. By next year, finding a signal on those boards will be an exercise in frustration.

What to Build With Instead

Before replacing one cellular module with another, ask why your learners are using cellular in the first place. In South African schools, cellular is often a workaround for broken or restrictive school infrastructure:

• WPA2-Enterprise Wi-Fi: Most basic microcontrollers (like standard ESP8266 or basic Arduino Wi-Fi shields) cannot authenticate against school networks using corporate username/password RADIUS protocols.
• Strict Firewalls: Departmental or district networks frequently block MQTT ports (1883/8883) or raw TCP sockets.
• Remote Deployments: Agricultural IoT projects (borehole monitoring, tunnel ventilation, soil moisture) sit far beyond the school's router range.

Depending on which problem you are solving, there are three viable paths forward.

Modern Cellular: NB-IoT, LTE-M, and LTE Cat-1

If your curriculum explicitly requires cellular communication—such as tracking a high-altitude balloon, monitoring water storage tanks on an off-site sports field, or teaching telematics—you must specify modern LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) or LTE hardware.

1. NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT) and LTE-M (Cat-M1)

These standards operate inside existing 4G frequency bands. They transmit tiny data payloads at very low power, allowing battery-operated field sensors to run for months. Vodacom and MTN both have active NB-IoT networks across major metros and agricultural corridors.

Look for microcontrollers or modems based on chipsets like the SIM7080G, SIM7000G, or the Nordic nRF9160. These multi-band boards support both Cat-M1 and NB-IoT globally, ensuring your lab equipment remains usable for the next decade.

2. LTE Cat-1 / Cat-1 bis

If your project needs higher data throughput—such as transmitting periodic camera snapshots or rapid sensor telemetry—standard LTE Cat-1 modules (such as the SIM7600 series or A7670) are the modern equivalent of the old 3G modems. They use standard 4G data bundles and standard prepaid SIM cards without requiring specialised LPWAN APN provisioning from network operators.

Pragmatic Advice for School Procurement

School budgets do not accommodate replacing hardware kits every twelve months. When planning equipment upgrades or writing lab tender specifications, apply three rules:

• Audit existing kits immediately: Check your electronics cupboards for SIM800, SIM900, or SIM5320 boards. Do not spend budget repairing or expanding kits around these chipsets.
• Standardise on dual Wi-Fi/Bluetooth boards for beginners: For 80% of classroom IoT exercises, an ESP32 microcontroller using local MQTT brokers or campus Wi-Fi delivers a better learning experience than dealing with airtime top-ups and SIM registrations. If your school needs help auditing and updating kit specifications, our team assists educators through Sheen Robotics Lab Sourcing.
• Account for SIM provisioning and power: Cellular IoT modules require sustained power spikes during transmission (up to 2A burst). Cheap breadboard power supplies will brown out 4G modems. Ensure your setups include appropriate reservoir capacitors or dedicated LiPo power management.

The 2G sunset is not an obstacle to teaching IoT; it is a long-overdue cleaning of the hardware landscape. Moving your students to modern platforms like the ESP32 and NB-IoT prepares them for the engineering standards they will encounter in industry, rather than protocols designed in the 1990s. For structured classroom hardware and curriculum options designed around modern connectivity standards, explore Sheen IoT modules and kits.