BT will start contacting its EE business customers “in the coming months” about the closure of its 2G network.
The telecoms group will officially close its 2G network by 2030, so is asking customers to sign up to its 4G and 5G plans. BT Group completed the nationwide switch off of its 3G network in early 2024. All major mobile networks have agreed to phase-out 2G and 3G signals by 2033.
In a note to customers, Howard Watson, chief security and networks officer for BT Group and Kerry Small, chief operating officer for BT Business, said: “Mobile connectivity has come a long way since the early 1990s when the UK launched its first 2G network.
“It was a time long before the first smartphone was invented, before the Premier League launched, and even before the first SMS text message was sent. But it is a world apart from what we, as a society, now demand from our digital communications. Today, just 0.1% of all data on our entire EE mobile network is carried over 2G.”
It comes after Virgin Media O2 confirmed it will start to turn off its 3G network from this year, starting in the city of Durham this April. The firm has started directly contacting the small proportion of customers in the area who don’t currently have a 4G or 5G device about the change.
This will also impact people who use Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile, and Giffgaff, as these all use O2’s network to operate. Virgin Media O2 is the final major network provider to end its 3G service, as EE, Three, and Vodafone switched off their 3G networks entirely last year.
Jeanie York, Virgin Media O2’s Chief Technology Officer, said: “Switching off 3G will be an important milestone in the evolution of our network, enabling us to focus our attention and investment on faster and more reliable 4G and 5G networks that will deliver improved services for our customers.”
If your phone supports the 4G network, then nothing will change when they switch off 3G. However, some older phones, including simple phones, will no longer be able to connect to a network to use data when the switch off happens.
If you have an older phone, you may need to upgrade to one that supports 4G and 5G in order to be able to use mobile data when the switch happens. Virgin Media O2 said it would contact customers who may be affected to give them notice.
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