We got our hands on some great research Machina put together showing the cellular generational rollouts and sunsets.

It’s true, the cellular sunsets never stop.

The data show a few interesting patterns. First, is the obvious cycle, each generation of cellular technology gets replaced by the next. 2G gets replaced by 3G. 3G gets replaced by 4G. But there are a couple of countries that break that pattern. Italy, for instance, will phase out 3G, but will keep 2G around even through 2025. Australia is projected in 2017 to drop majority coverage of 2G, have majority 3G and then have solid 4G coverage beginning in 2018. The first groups of countries to have phased out 2G and 3G to have mainly 4G coverage are Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, and China, all by 2024. Most of the others will follow suit by 2025, except Finland, which will keep 3G around, and Sweden and Italy, which will keep 2G around along with their 4G coverage.

And while the projections only go out ten years to 2025, there will be more sunsets! 5G is next, then 6G, then 7G and so on. It’s the very nature of the cellular industry to continue updating the wireless networks to match consumers demands. First it was updating voice technology to digital, then it was adding data connections, then enough data for pictures, then audio, then video, then HD video, then 4K UHD, then virtual reality while riding our hoverboards. Err…you see the pattern. The endless hustle and drive.

So long as Silicon Valley keeps doing what it does best, and that is to bring us new gadgets and ways to consume electronic media and data, the carriers will be more than thrilled to take their cut and upgrade the networks. It just makes good business sense…unless you are a business with connected devices that, in order to be affordable, need to be placed, connected wirelessly, and then never touched again. Cellular connectivity does’t allow for that, and it never will.

There is a solution to all of this. It’s Ingenu’s Machine Network. Stable, state-of-the-art wireless connectivity designed exclusively for machines. We offer network guarantees for decades, no sunsets, no having to touch your devices. The answer is simply genius, and it’s Ingenu.

To see the cellular technology generations infographic, click here.