Mobile operator EE (BT) has confirmed to ISPreview that they’ve “started the work” to repurpose more of their old 3G radio spectrum for use by modern 4G and 5G based mobile networks, which is said to already be delivering “performance improvements” (e.g. faster mobile broadband speeds) for customers in “thousands of postcodes” across the UK.
In case anybody has forgotten, EE switched-off their final 3G sites back in February 2024 (here). But it’s long been known that the radio spectrum which operators free up, as a result of this change, would go toward improving the performance and coverage of their more modern 4G and 5G networks – not to mention helping to lower their network costs and facilitating a big reduction in energy usage.
However, the precise approach that different operators planned to use (i.e. when switching the spectrum that 3G used and re-farming it to 4G or 5G services) has often remained unclear, which may also vary between different areas. But last year a spokesperson for EE told ISPreview that their own process would happen gradually over time, with an initial focus being given to areas of greatest need (e.g. congested sites or areas at risk of congestion).
In fact, EE has previously re-farmed 15MHz of the 2100MHz band (n1), which was originally used for 3G. But, over the past few months, some of EE’s customers (example) have reported seeing an additional change on the n1 band, which increases the channel bandwidth from 15MHz to 20MHz. This was underlined last week, when a sizeable number of EE’s masts in South Wales suddenly adopted this change to improve 4G and 5G services.
The operator has since confirmed to ISPreview that Appleby (we assume they mean the one in Lincolnshire) was the first location to see this work take place, although they’ve also now done it in parts of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, London, Birmingham, Liverpool and parts of North Wales. As above, they’ve recently been adding South Wales to that list (this is due to complete next week). A total of 7,000 sites have been upgraded this year.
An EE spokesperson told ISPreview:
“Shutting down outdated technologies like 3G carries benefits for everyone because modern networks provide more reliable, sustainable and secure services. By closing down 3G, more mobile spectrum has been freed up and is now being used to improve EE’s 4G and 5G networks. This work is already delivering performance improvements for customers in thousands of postcodes across the UK.”
The operator has been conducting some early monitoring of the recent n1 change to 20MHz, which appears to suggest performance benefits of between 20-35% in some KPIs, although no specifics were included to elaborate. But such performance benefits typically include things like less congestion, fewer dropped calls and modestly faster broadband speeds.