Last month, operators started pulling the plug on the UK’s 3G network, with Vodafone the first to start the process in Plymouth and Basingstoke.
The UK Government has set a deadline of 2033 for both 2G and 3G to be turned off, with mobile operators expecting to decommission all 3G services either by the end of this year (Vodafone) or next (EE and Three), leaving them free to focus on the 4G network and 5G roll-out.
Uswitch.com warns that half of UK consumers are unaware that this is happening, even though 32% use 3G on a regular basis and 7% say 3G is the only mobile network they can access.
While providers say the 2G network will be there as a safety network for people who may not have access to faster speeds after 3G is turned off, Uswitch points out that 2G is far slower than its successor and can take several minutes to download a web page.
Ernest Doku, Mobiles Expert at Uswitch. com, is calling on providers to do more to make customers aware of their timeline for turning off 3G and which towns and cities will be affected.
He said: “It is clear that millions of mobile phone users aren’t aware that 3G is being phased out, or how this will impact their ability to get online, especially with sluggish 2G serving as the only fallback in a number of cases.
“Although the network speeds 3G offers are slow by modern standards, there are still people that rely on this older generation network, especially in rural areas, as a primary means of connectivity. People still using 3G-enabled smartphones that cannot access the more modern networks will need to upgrade their handset soon or risk losing access to their mobile data altogether.”
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