18 September 2023

The UK government and all mobile providers have agreed to phase-out existing 2G and 3G signals by 2033, which will free up radio spectrum bands to further improve the network coverage and mobile broadband speeds of 4G and 5G networks. The switch-off will also reduce the operators’ costs and power consumption.

3G services will be the first to go because older 2G signals remain useful as a low-power fallback (they’ll be sticking around for a lot longer) and are still necessary for some rural areas, as well as for particular applications (e.g. many smart meters and other Internet of Things (IoT) / M2M services are dependent upon 2G). Most operators expect to have completely phased out 3G by the end of 2024, although O2 (VMO2) won’t begin this phase until 2025.

EE said that its recent switch-off trial in Warrington resulted in “no customer complaints about network coverage or performance” and “no capacity issues on either our 2G or 4G networks, despite a natural rise in traffic as more people relied on them every day.” As a result, EE has finalised its final switch-off plan, which will start from January 2024 and complete by March 2024.

EE will also be keeping all customers registered as vulnerable connected by offering them a free 4G-ready mobile phone or a discount on a monthly plan.

“While 3G delivered everything we expected it to twenty years ago, it has now been made redundant by the widespread rollout of newer mobile technologies. Retiring 3G means we can reuse the spectrum to strengthen our 4G and 5G experiences (which the majority of customers use every day) and make sure more communities have access to a fast, reliable and sustainable mobile network,” said Greg McCall, BT’s chief networks officer. “When our 3G network switches off early next year it will be a landmark moment. And while its retirement is more of a network evolution than a revolution, it sets the scene for many exciting developments to come in the years ahead.”