Vodafone has announced it is starting to switch off its legacy 3G network across Salisbury and the rest of Southern England in the next few weeks. 

The latest phase follows 3G switch-offs in other UK cities such as Basingstoke, Hull, Oxford and Plymouth, with the remainder of the UK following by the end of February 2024. 

The programme means the radio spectrum currently allocated for 3G can be used to strengthen 4G and 5G services.  

Meanwhile, Vodafone’s 2G network, currently covering more than 99 per cent of the UK population, will remain for calls, texts and a number of IoT (Internet of Things) services for the time being, alongside services such as 4G Calling, which uses the 4G network to make and receive calls.  

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Other UK mobile network operators have confirmed to the Government that they do not intend to offer 2G or 3G mobile networks past 2033.  More information on the switch-off across all providers can be found in a paper published on Ofcom’s website.

A customer awareness campaign began in January 2022 to notify Vodafone customers who may be affected by the switch off, offering information and advice such as how to check if a mobile device is 4G-capable and how to carry out software upgrades where required.

Most phones will show which ‘generation’ or G they are using in the top left or right-hand corner of the display screen, though many later-generation phones can switch to older services when coverage is lacking.

Vodafone’s UK chief network officer, Andrea Dona, said: “Our 3G switch off programme has gone extremely well so far. 

"As a result of our ongoing network improvements, data traffic has declined over the last few years with less than two per cent of the data used on our network being on 3G.  This means we can start to redeploy its remaining spectrum to our 4G and 5G services.”