Some elevators will no longer be able to call the emergency services after the 2G cut © Zoff
In September 2026, Orange will definitively turn off its 2G network. SFR and Bouygues will follow in the following months. Then it will be the turn of 3G, promised to a slower death, but just as irreversible, by 2029. Officially, it is a question of freeing frequencies for 5G and modernizing the infrastructure. In fact, this technological retirement may well leave millions of devices on the tile.
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Less than a year from the closure of the 2G network, some users are not yet informed.
As the end of 2G approaches, the alert rises among security professionals
A report published in the spring of 2025 by the Higher Digital Commission and Posts (CSNP) sounds alarm: many professionals and citizens are still not informed of the concrete consequences of this extinction. The document makes thirteen recommendations, including: organize public consultation, impose guidelines on operators, test cuts on pilot sites – especially in elevators, alarms and remote assistance.
The Senate, in a written question posed in January, estimates the number of 2G devices in service in early 2024, to 4 million, to which are added 3.8 million 3G devices. Among them, more than 300,000 self -monitoring systems and nearly 700,000 remote monitoring devices are directly concerned from 2026. The same report evokes a replacement duration between four and ten years, while the current transition period leaves only four.
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The self -monitoring devices and 666,000 remote surveillance systems could become inoperative at the cut of 2G.
In France, more than 700,000 remote assistance devices still operate in 2G or 3G. Without updating, they could become inoperative from 2026. © Prostock Studio
7.8 million risk equipment, and no plan to replace them
In the fall of 2024, generalist and specialized media also pointed out the risk: in total, 7.8 million equipment (elevators, alarms, remote assistance, etc.) are still based on 2G or 3G. The players in the sector believe that the costs linked to their upgrade could reach several hundred million euros.
Replacing a communication module in an elevator, for example, can cost up to 5,000 euros. No national financing plan is, to date, set up. Only a few recommendations mention the possibility of zero -rate loans or aid for communities.
Nearly 700,000 equipment may no longer be able to prevent help from 2026. It is a potentially dramatic break.
“This reality has not been taken into account by operators”regrets Brice Brandenburg, of Ignes. And Alain Béal, vice -president of the GPMSE, insists: “They should have been warned six or seven years before the fateful date”. The switch to 4G/5G networks is legitimate, but its current management is sloppy: lack of consumer information, poorly coordinated plans, and exorbitant costs left for users and communities. As a result, daily safety (from the remote assistance bracelet to the alarm button of an elevator) is put to the test. And all that, without a net.
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