Vodafone UK completes 3G shutdown to enhance 4G/5G services

Vodafone UK has followed EE's announcement this week by officially shutting down its 3G mobile network nationwide. This transition allows for the repurposing of related radio frequencies to bolster the faster 4G and 5G services.

While Vodafone claims the switch-off is complete as of this week, it slightly missed its initial target of finishing by the end of January 2024. Additionally, a "small number of locations" with "UK security significance" and some remote rural areas will...

28 February 2024 | 5G

Brits are unaware that 3G switch-offs begin next month

Research from Uswitch has found that most Brits are unaware that 3G networks will begin to be switched off from next month.

Just over half (51%) of surveyed Brits were unaware of the impending switch-off. Over 55s were the most unaware (61%) of the switch-off. In the 18-34 age range, that dropped to just 40 percent.

Ernest Doku, Mobiles Expert at Uswitch, says:

“It is clear that millions of mobile phone users aren’t aware that 3G is being phased out, or...

25 January 2023 | Networks

Verizon finally shutters its 3G network

Verizon has switched off its 3G network following years of warnings to holdouts still relying on the legacy network.

Any customer using a 3G CDMA device that does not support newer technologies “will be suspended without billing and will lose the ability to call, text, or use data.”

The operator is the last of the US big three carriers to switch off its 3G network. The spectrum used for the network will be repurposed for newer technologies.

Customers have...

3 January 2023 | Networks

Vodafone will begin shuttering 3G in 2023 to improve 4G/5G services

Vodafone has announced plans to begin shuttering its 3G network in 2023 to focus on improving 4G/5G services.

The operator says that less than 4 percent of data traffic across its network is now delivered via 3G—compared to over 30 percent in 2016. By the end of this year, the amount of 3G traffic is likely to have dwindled even further.

With the vast amount of traffic carried over 4G – and increasingly 5G – it makes sense for Vodafone to improve those...

25 January 2022 | 5G

UK Government announces Open RAN rollout target and 2G/3G sunsetting

A sunset.

The UK Government and mobile network operators have jointly set a target for 35% of the UK’s mobile network traffic to be carried over open and interoperable Radio Access Network (RAN) architectures by 2030.

IT is believed that open network architectures will play a key role in enhancing the security and resilience of the networks required to keep in touch and do business. 

Following recent decisions the Government has made around the use of high-risk vendors and...

17 December 2021 | 5G

T-Mobile ordered to prove it didn’t lie to get Sprint merger approval

T-Mobile has been ordered to prove it didn’t lie to government regulators about its 3G shutdown plans to win approval for its Sprint merger.

In a ruling by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), T-Mobile is ordered “to show cause why it should not be sanctioned by the Commission for violating Rule 1.1 of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure for false, misleading, or omitted statements.”

CPUC accuses T-Mobile of making false statements...

17 August 2021 | Legislation & Government

DISH switches to AT&T after accusing T-Mobile of anti-competitive behaviour

DISH will pay AT&T at least $5 billion over the next decade to access its network following a spat with T-Mobile.

Since August 2020, T-Mobile has stopped activating and selling phones that don't support VoLTE to encourage any holdouts still relying on 3G to upgrade. DISH isn’t happy with T-Mobile bringing forward its plans to shutter its 3G CDMA network earlier than originally intended and accused the operator of anti-competitive behaviour.

“T-Mobile’s plans to...

20 July 2021 | AT&T

Verizon’s plan to shutter its 3G network is put on hold

Verizon is putting its plan to shutter its legacy 3G network on indefinite hold.

Speaking to Light Reading this week, Verizon spokesperson Kevin King said that the company’s “3G network is operational” and that it doesn’t “have a plan to shut it down at this time.”

Verizon has announced vague plans to shutter its 3G network on several occasions. Naturally, this started in 2012 after Verizon deployed its 4G network.

A few years after the deployment...

6 January 2021 | Networks

AT&T apologises for email about ending support for 3G phones

AT&T has apologised for issuing an email warning customers their 3G phones will stop working.

According to Statista, around 80 percent of connections in North America are now 4G. With the number of 3G connections being ebbed away by 4G and even 5G, it makes sense that AT&T is thinking about when to switch off its legacy network.

Here’s the email sent by AT&T to its 3G customers:

Naturally, the email had customers concerned their phones were...

23 July 2020 | Networks