Vodafone New Zealand has announced it intends to have rolled out 4G and 5G to everywhere currently served by 3G by the end of August 2024, at which point it will begin to shut down its legacy 3G network. Vodafone says the two-year notice period is intended to allow customers enough time to transition to using faster, more reliable services before the 3G network is switched off. The move will provide enhanced 4G and 5G experiences for Vodafone’s customers by allowing the telco to repurpose its 3G spectrum. Vodafone notes that an increasing number of its customers are already taking advantage of the company’s newer network technologies, with 3G data use accounting for less than 5% of total network data traffic, a figure that is rapidly declining year over year.
Vodafone is continuing to roll out 4G and 5G, with more than 400 upgrades and 165 new sites offering broader 4G and 5G coverage throughout the country in 2021. The rollout has kept pace in 2022, providing 4G or 5G to sites from Kaeo in Northland to Gore and Invercargill in Southland, as well as a range of places in between, including 27 sites in Hamilton alone.