The end is nigh for Telstra's 2G mobile phone network with thousands of customers urged to upgrade their old handsets before the shutdown this week.
Telstra will hang up on its 2G network on Thursday after more than two decades of operation and about 87 billion phone calls.
Telstra spokesman Steven Carey says 2G customers will no longer be able to make or receive phone calls, including triple-zero, or use data once the network is switched off.
He said letters, text messages and care packs have been issued to affected customers since the closure was announced almost two years ago.
"Today 2G accounts for less than one per cent of today's mobile network traffic. We haven't sold a 2G device for years," Mr Carey told AAP on Monday.
He says customers will know if they're currently using the 2G network if they have a 2G, GSM, GPRS, E or EDGE icon displayed at the top of their phone screen.
The network closure will also affect 2G customers using ALDIMobile, Better Life Mobile, Boost, Cmobile (Blue), Lycamobile, MeU Mobile, Southern, Telechoice, Think (Classic) and Woolworths Mobile.
Customers are being asked to check their SIM card/device compatibility and upgrade to phones using more modern 3G or 4G technology.
Telstra's farewell to its ageing network, which was established in April 1993, kicks off a year of similar shutdowns by telcos in Australia.
Optus will switch off its 2G network in April - affecting Virgin Mobile, amaysim and Dodo customers - while Vodafone's 2G network will be decommissioned next September.
There were 180,000 active handsets operating on Vodafone's 2G network at the end of last September, a spokeswoman told AAP.
"Today our 2G network carries less than three per cent of total voice traffic and less than one per cent of total data traffic. Since January 2013, we have moved more than 600,000 customers off our 2G network," she said.
An Optus spokeswoman said the increase in smartphone usage and advances in 4G technology were driving customer away from 2G phones.
Meanwhile, the initial rollout of 5G technology is expected in 2020.
WHAT SHOULD 2G CUSTOMERS DO?
* Telstra customers using a 2G SIM card in a 3G/4G device can receive a new SIM for free
* Upgrade 2G handsets to a 3G/4G compatible device
* Update mobile network settings if both SIM and device are already 3G or 4G compatible.
