Tele2 will complete the transition to modern network technologies in early March by decommissioning the last 3G base stations in Riga (Pārdaugava) and Mārupe parish. Thus, Tele2 will become the first mobile operator in Latvia to use only 4G and 5G networks for voice calls, providing customers with a more modern and high-quality mobile communications experience. This will conclude a project that lasted about a year, the goal of which was to gradually replace outdated 3G technology with newer and more efficient alternatives.
According to the operator, currently less than 1% of mobile data is consumed on the 3G network, and more and more customers are using 4G and 5G networks for voice calls, thanks to modern VoLTE technology, which provides faster call connections, as well as higher quality of voice and video calls.
Līga Krūmiņa, Technical Director, Tele2
Currently, the main or basic technology in providing mobile communications is 4G, which is why operators around the world are abandoning the outdated 3G technology, which has lost its role in providing mobile communications services. We have also successfully completed this transition project, which allows us to use the freed frequencies that we used for 3G technology for the development of 4G and 5G networks, which will certainly benefit our customers. Currently, the majority of our customers already make voice calls on the 4G and 5G networks, which provide higher voice call quality than 3G technology. In turn, the 2G network serves as a mobile communications service provider for those customers whose devices do not work on the 4G or 5G network. However, there are relatively few such customers.