Internet benchmarking firm Opensignal has used their crowdsource data, which is collected via users of their benchmarking apps and services, to reveal a bit more information about how the recent 3G mobile switch-off on EE (BT), Three UK (ongoing) and Vodafone has impacted the availability of their remaining 2G, 4G and 5G based mobile / broadband services.
Just to recap. Both EE (BT) and Vodafone completed their shutdown of older 3G services in February 2024 (here and here), while Three UK are aiming to complete their own process by the end of this year (here). By comparison, O2 (Virgin Media) are planning to both start and complete this process by the end of 2025 (here).
Mobile operators have generally been compensating for the 3G switch-off in some areas by introducing upgrades to newer 4G and 5G services (example). The removal of 3G is also expected to significantly reduce each operator’s energy usage and free up some radio spectrum to be re-farmed for use by modern services, which could boost their network performance and coverage.
In fact, we’ve already seen some data from Streetwave, which claims to have identified improvements in mobile broadband performance after 3G was switched off by Vodafone and Three UK in certain areas (here and here). But it’s still early days, and the results for network coverage seem to be a bit more variable.
The latest data from Opensignal provides some extra context for this change, albeit with a focus more on the change in network availability and the time that UK users now spend on 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G. For example, Vodafone users were found to have seen a “significant dip in Availability” (i.e. the percentage of time users spend with a mobile broadband connection — either 3G, 4G or 5G) and an “increase in Time on 2G” after the switch-off, which will need to change before 2G reaches its own shutdown (i.e. 4G and 5G will then become the primary methods).
However, the data also shows that Vodafone “turned off 3G relatively abruptly” compared to Three UK, and began the process with a much higher Time on 3G than EE. But take note that Three UK never had its own 2G network, and EE had the advantage of starting from a much better position than Vodafone in terms of time on 3G.
The report also notes that the European region is at the forefront of this transition with over half (52.6%) of global 2G and 3G switch-offs either completed, planned, or in progress. On average, European smartphone users were found to spend 5.5% of their time on 2G or 3G (3.9% for just 3G), which drops to 4.2% for the UK (Moldova tops the table with 18.9%, while Norway sits at the bottom with just 0.8%).
In the race to move away from legacy mobile technologies, the Nordic countries are currently in the lead.