👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – GoLemon shuts down

Think of a bustling city where the old, narrow streets are causing traffic jams, and the only way to make room for faster buses and trains is to tear them down. That is the logic Rwanda is applying to its digital landscape. The government has set June 30, 2027, as the final date for the nationwide shutdown of its 3G mobile network.

What happened? On Monday, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology and Innovation announced a roadmap to phase out older wireless technologies. The 3G network will be the first to go, followed by 2G once market readiness conditions are met. 

This isn’t a sudden move; it follows a multi-year study launched with Germany in 2024 to assess the technical and economic impact of retiring legacy networks. Pilot shutdowns will begin as early as 2026 to ensure the transition doesn’t leave anyone in a digital dead zone.

Explain like I’m new here: Mobile networks are like radio frequencies—there is only so much airspace (spectrum) to go around. 2G and 3G are like old roads: they take up a lot of space but can carry only a small amount of data.

By switching them off, operators can reallocate that spectrum to 4G and 5G, which are like high-speed digital channels that can handle everything from 4K video to remote surgery. For the 98.8% of Rwandans already covered by 2G and 3G, the challenge isn’t the signal—it’s the hardware. If your phone or payment terminal only speaks 3G, it will become a very expensive paperweight in 2027.

Why now? Rwanda wants to be a premier tech hub in Africa. And it can’t build a digital future on 20-year-old foundations. While Airtel Rwanda and other operators are keen to stop…