Orange announced it will begin switching off its 3G network at the end of September in six counties, to re-farm spectrum and enhance its LTE network to serve growing demand.
In a translated statement, Orange Poland detailed the following counties will see 3G shutdown on September 26: Piła, Złotów, Wałecki, Wieruszów, Wieluń and Pajęczno.
From the second half of October until the end of November 3G will be turned off in the following locations: Czarnków-Trzcianecki, Chodzież, Obornicki, Wągrowiec, Sieradz, Zduńskowola, Poddębice and Łaski.
In Q2 2024, Koszalin and Słupsk will also see their 3G networks turned off. The operator is scheduling the end of 2025 for a complete shutdown of 3G.
Orange currently see 96% of data transmissions in the Orange network go through LTE, over the last few years the share of 3G traffic decreased from 26% to around 2.5%, prompting plans to switch it off.
Operators globally are switching off their 3G networks to cater to growing data demands from subscribers, who are tapping into high bandwidth demanding services such as video streaming and social media.