UK smart meter replacement bill could hit £4 billion as 2G and 3G close

Millions of meters face replacement

Up to 13 million smart meters in the UK may need to be replaced because they depend on 2G and 3G mobile networks that are being switched off, according to TechRadar. Once those networks disappear, the meters will no longer be able to send readings back to energy suppliers.

The estimated cost of replacing them is around £4 billion, a figure TechRadar attributes to The Register. That cost is likely to be added to household energy bills.

Why the networks are closing

3G services have largely been phased out already. The government has set an official deadline of 2033 for switching off 2G, and TechRadar reports that mobile networks plan to begin the process in 2029 or 2030.

A smart meter is a device that records energy use and transmits it automatically to the supplier, removing the need for manual meter readings. Meters that lose their mobile connection cannot send that data.

A foreseeable problem

TechRadar notes that the government announced plans to phase out 2G and 3G back in 2021, yet some meters using those networks continued to be installed afterwards. The rollout itself was slow: it took until October 2021 for the UK to reach 15 million installed meters.

Because the switch-off dates were known years in advance, the report argues the government should not be surprised that many early meters will need replacing.

Newer meters are safer

Not every meter is affected. Some more recent models already use 4G, so they will keep working after 2G and 3G disappear. TechRadar reports that 4G is unlikely to be phased out before the 2040s, which should give those devices a long service life.

For households with older meters, the practical effect is a replacement programme funded through bills, though no timeline or scheme details are given in the reporting.

What it means for bills

The £4 billion figure is an estimate reported by TechRadar via The Register, not an official government cost. Readers should treat it as a projection until suppliers or the government confirm how any replacement programme will be funded.

The story highlights a wider lesson for connected devices: hardware that depends on a mobile network can stop working when that network closes, even if the device itself is still relatively new.