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AT&T Shuts Down 2G Network, Ends Cellular Connectivity For Original iPhone (macrumors.com)
ATT yesterday announced that its 2G wireless network was officially shut down on January 1, 2017. Since the network is no longer active, it means that, as the Verge points out, the original first-generation iPhone (also known as the iPhone 2G) will no longer receive cellular service from ATT's network. If you still happen to use an iPhone 2G, it may be time to upgrade or list it on eBay. Mac Rumors reports: Few people appear to have been using the original iPhone as there were no complaints from iPhone owners two weeks ago when the network was shuttered, but going forward, customers who keep the device as part of a collection will only be able to use it on WiFi. Originally released in June of 2007 and discontinued in 2008, the first iPhone was made obsolete by Apple back in 2013, and it has not received software updates since the 2009 release of iPhone OS 3, later renamed iOS 3. According to ATT, shutting down its 2G network frees up valuable spectrum for future network technologies, including 5G. ATT says the spectrum will be repurposed for LTE.
Seeing as Straight Talk and similar providers merely piggyback on AT&T's towers if AT&T no longer accept 2G connections that would also cut off carriers like Straight Talk. Interestingly T-Mobile has offered 2G AT&T customers a home until 2020. https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/...
There is no "3G-GSM" in the proper sense, the successor to GSM voice is UMTS, which is _not_ VOIP, it's circuit switched vocoder based like GSM was, just much more spectrally efficient because it uses CDMA on the air interface. (that's not the same as CDMA2000)