Vodafone to boost network performance for customers by phasing out 2G

2G was launched in 1991 around the same time as a page of the world wide web took nearly ten minutes to load. Fast forward to the present day and web pages can almost instantaneously pop up on a smartphone over 5G.

Vodafone aims to maintain this pace while enhancing 4G and 5G quality and coverage. This requires additional radio spectrum and investment to increase network capacity for more users, support the growth in video use and extend mobile signals.

With spectrum in short supply, phasing out outdated 2G networks efficiently frees up this valuable resource, as well as allowing Vodafone to reallocate capital to support more advanced technologies. By 2030, Vodafone will be phasing out all its remaining 2G networks in Europe to further improve and extend more efficient and reliable 4G and 5G networks. This is consistent with industry trends. Data from industry body the GSMA indicates that 131 networks are scheduled for shut down by 2030, with about half being 2G networks.

Vodafone’s exact phasing of the switch over from 2G to newer technologies will vary country-by-country. For example, Vodafone Germany aims to complete this transition by 2028 and is working closely with the small number of customers, mostly businesses, to ensure that their migration from 2G is managed as smoothly as possible. VodafoneThree has also announced it will switch-off the Vodafone UK 2G network during 2030 (Three UK has no 2G spectrum).

Out with the old

By the time 2G is retired, it will have been in operation for nearly four decades and is now inefficient and costly to run.

A key limitation of 2G is its slow data transfer rate. For each hertz of spectrum – which is how data travels – 2G can carry 0.1 bits of information per second. 4G in comparison can carry 2.4 bits. This makes it impossible to use 2G for data-intensive applications such as video streaming or online gaming.

A gigabyte of data also uses up to one hundred times less energy to transmit over 5G than it does over 2G. 5G provides mobile operators the potential to lower their environmental impact, as industry standards target a 90% reduction in energy use, according to the GSMA.

Network operation and maintenance costs will decrease as legacy equipment required for 2G can be recycled, which may also make physical space available for new equipment at Vodafone’s mobile sites.

The impact to customers

Using a phased approach, Vodafone can ensure customers stay connected during this time. In addition, it continues to expand its 4G and 5G networks, as well as looking to introduce direct to device mobile broadband satellite services, so that by the end of 2030, Vodafone will serve areas that have little or no coverage today.

For legacy Internet of Things (IoT) systems, replacement technologies such as CAT-M and NB-IoT are already available to support older voice and IoT devices still in operation, such as low-powered meters. In the coming years, these technologies are predicted to be well established.

Given the widespread adoption of 4G and 5G technologies and the increasing reliance on smartphones for essential functions such as banking, navigation, messaging, and social media, 2G is no longer the most suitable technology for these applications. Vodafone is adopting a gradual approach to shutting down 2G over the next five years with the goal of minimising disruption while improving the customer experience and underpinning digital economies across Europe.