he vending industry has steadily been add-
ing cashless readers and remote monitoring
devices to machines nationwide. It's been
a slow progression that has taken a much-
needed steep increase in the last few years.
However, right when it appears we've turned
the corner, one of the pillars that enables
vending machine telemetry is going away
potentially causing loss of sales and effcien-
cies if operators aren't proactive about it.
Industry experts suggest as many as
200,000 vending machines will be affected
by this decommissioning of the 2G network
by two prominent cellular communication
providers. AT&T; has already begun shut-
ting down its 2G network with complete
abandonment scheduled for December 2016.
Verizon is also shuttering its 2G and 3G net-
works, with a cutoff date sometime in 2021.
What is 2G?
The term 2G represents digital communica-
tion technology that allows data to be sent
from a vending machine with a credit card
processor and remote monitoring system,
often called telemetry. You may be familiar
with cellular commercials that claim 'the
best' 4G LTE network. This is an example of
a newer wireless communication technology
The number refers to the generation, so 2G
is second-generation technology. The latest
generations are better able to transfer high
speed data. It allows for better streaming and
communication. LTE stands for Long-Term
Evolution and also enables high speed data
communication.
Because venders don't relay a high volume
of data, they rarely have a 4G LTE connec-
tion. Instead, M2M, or machine to machine
T
Without action,
the cashless
and telemetry
aspects of
many vending
machines will
simply stop
working as AT&T;
and eventually
Verizon shut
down their 2G
networks.
How The Sunset Of
2G Could Affect You
By Emily Refermat, Editor
iStock
December 2015 VendingMarketWatch.com Automatic Merchandiser 37
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