Orange has announced the end dates for its 2G and 3G networks: the first will be closed in 2025, while the second will no longer exist by 2028. It is therefore a very ambitious project for the operator, while many many professionals still rely on 2G for their communication systems.
It’s time for the transition at Orange. By 2030, the operator will have transformed its offer. It is on this date, in particular, that its copper network will be completely dismantled, signing at the same time the death warrant of ADSL. But this is not the only titanic project to which the firm will devote itself. To enter the new era of telecoms, the latter will also definitively draw the curtain on its 2G and 3G networks.
If all over the world, and particularly in the United States, these networks are already gradually disappearing, Orange is the first French operator to give a precise date of closure. Thus, it is in 2025 that the group will definitively separate from 2G, followed by 3G in 2028. Note that these schedules only concern France. In Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, 3G will be the first to go out in 2025, while 2G will remain until 2030.
Orange announces the end of 2G and 3G by 2028
To justify its decision, Orange invokes the card of ecology as well as benefits for users. “This will optimize the management of its networks and make them evolve towards more secure, resilient, energy-efficient and modern technologies such as 4G and 5G”, can we read in the press release. Indeed, it has been several years since Arcep authorized the operator to recycle its 3G frequencies to boost the power of the 4G and 5G networks.
However, the telecoms policeman does not particularly agree with Orange on the environmental issue. “Studies are underway, but it appears that the energy gains are not so obvious”explains Anaël Bourrous, project manager in the “mobile and innovation” department at Arcep. “On the hardware side, some network equipment will have to be replaced, as well as obsolete user terminals. »
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It’s a path strewn with pitfalls that awaits Orange. In addition to the many devices still connected to 2G and 3G in France, it is mainly professionals who will suffer from this transition. Payment terminals, ATMs, alarms, elevators, the list of devices that rely on networks is long. The operator will therefore have to support companies in this drastic change if it wants to do it as smoothly as possible.