28 February 2025

MTN South Africa reportedly plans to shut down its 3G mobile network by the end of this year – one year earlier than initially planned – following a successful pilot project in Cape Town to migrate 3G users to 4G and 5G.

According to media reports, the pilot – which covered Durbanville, Greater Melkbosstrand and several Cape Town suburbs – was launched early last year to help MTN fine-tune the migration process.

The 3G shutdown has been planned since 2022, when the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) said it wanted 2G and 3G services to be shut off to modernise South Africa’s mobile networks and free up spectrum for 4G and 5G.

The DCDT originally ordered 2G to be shut down by June 2024 and 3G by March 2025. However, in February the ministry agreed to push the shutdown deadline for both networks to the end of 2027. Even then, however, concerns remained over how the switch off would be handled and the scope of the potential impact on users.
MTN had previously announced that it would shut down its 3G network at the end of 2026. Following the success of the migration pilot in Cape Town, however, the telco said it will move up the cutoff date to 31 December 2025.

MTN told Cape Town customers in a letter that the transition would be implemented in stages to minimise disruption, the report said, although it added that some short-term disruption was inevitable.

Meanwhile, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is conducting an economic impact assessment to ensure that the 3G shutdown will not adversely impact subscribers, especially in areas where 4G coverage is limited or non-existent. According to ICASA figures, 4G covers 98.5% of South Africa’s population. By contrast, 3G covers 99.9% of the population.

The pace of shutting down 2G and 3G networks in Africa has picked up as mobile network operators roll out switch-off plans and the adoption of high speed networks rises.

Retiring legacy networks offers huge possibilities to unlock opportunities in an internet economy that is estimated to be worth US$180 billion by 2025 – over 5% of Africa’s economy.