Vodafone wants to switch off its 3G network in mid-2021

Vodafone wants to switch off its 3G mobile network in Germany on June 30, 2021. The frequency spectrum previously used for this should instead be used for LTE data radio, the telecommunications company announced on Thursday. The 3G standard that was introduced almost two decades ago – also known as UMTS – is no longer up-to-date, it was said to be the reason. Only five percent of the data traffic in Vodafone’s mobile network ran through him.

“While the top speed in our 3G network is up to 42 Mbit / s, it is up to 500 Mbit / s in the LTE network,” emphasizes in its announcement . In addition, 3G only reaches about 80 percent of households in Germany, while the even more energy-efficient LTE reaches 98.6 percent.

customers who previously only had 3G contracts will have to switch to LTE (4G) in the long term as part of the adaptation or will have to use the 2G GSM network for phone calls. Vodafone says that this will continue to be active – it will be used, among other things, for communication between machines. Vodafone said that its own tariffs would all contain LTE by the reporting date.

According to the company, the previous antennas will remain installed during the “reclassification” to 4G. The necessary additional equipment should come from the two Vodafone suppliers Ericsson and Huawei.

―Press From