Telstra, Australia’s leading mobile network operator in terms of subscribers, has unveiled plans to close its 2G GSM network by the end of 2016, reported Telegeography.com on July 23, 2014. In order to realize this objective, the cellco has put plans in place to move its remaining 2G subscribers to 3G and 4G alternatives over the course of the next two years. According to reports, 2G traffic now accounts for less than one percent of Telstra’s total network traffic. In a blog post confirming its plans, the operator noted that it has not sold a 2G-only handset “for several years”, and as such, it expects that most customers still accessing services via GSM will need nothing more than a new SIM card to upgrade to 3G or 4G.