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What country is putting the kibosh on old tech like fax machines?

Answer: China.

old fax machine on a table
Shutterstock/APChanel
Who even uses fax machines and pagers anymore? So few people, it turns out, that China wants to phase out the tech entirely. The country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) recently announced that it is going to stop issuing network access permits for certain older technologies.

This includes tech like “fixed telephone terminals, cordless telephone terminals, group telephones, fax machines, modems (including cards), wireless pagers” and other outdated tech, per the announcement. While this does not mean that these technologies will no longer be able to connect to the network, it does mean that they will no longer be compliant with the latest standards.

This is important for people outside the country because it signals that China, home of the world’s second-largest economy, may be moving away from old tech entirely in the future. This could be a serious economic blow to companies that still manufacture these technologies. The new regulations will take effect March 1.