One New Zealand has today announced it is postponing switching off its 3G network from 31 August 2024 to 31 March 2025.

One New Zealand Chief Technology Officer, Tony Baird said: “Our rollout of 4G and 5G continues on track and at pace. We have built and upgraded over 500 sites across the motu in the past eighteen months with plans for hundreds more in 2024. This extension is designed to give our customers a little more time to make the switch from their old phones which rely on 3G for voice calls and/or mobile data, and for our internet of things (IOT) customers to swap out devices like old in-vehicle modems that currently use the 3G network. Overseas operators are already shutting down 3G and this is another reason why customers will need to have an up-to-date phone that will be able to connect to 4G voice and data whilst travelling.”

One New Zealand also confirmed a shutdown date of 31 December 2025 for its 2G network, which is in line with previous indications.

“2G was first switched on in 1993 and has served our customers incredibly well during that time, but with the rollout of much newer, power efficient technologies, with far more capability such as 4G and 5G, we have seen a significant decline in 2G traffic to the point where it’s no longer economically or environmentally viable to operate the 2G network, and we will switch it off at the end of 2025.”

Best in Test

One New Zealand’s significant investment to expand and improve its 4G and 5G network across New Zealand has led to it being independently awarded best mobile network in Aotearoa for the second year running by global leader in mobile testing, umlaut, part of Accenture, as well as Ookla reporting One NZ as New Zealand’s fastest mobile network.

From the end of 2024 One New Zealand will complement its 4G and 5G network with satellite coverage, launching a text service with SpaceX this year, followed by voice and data in 2025.

For 2G and 3G customers, the message from Baird is clear.

“We are excited for the future, and all the awesome things you can do connected to our newer 4G and 5G networks, but we don’t want anyone to get left behind, or get disconnected. It’s time to recycle those old phones which rely on 2G or 3G, and upgrade to a 4G or 5G device. We’ll be contacting customers throughout 2024 to help them with the process, but please don’t put it off until the last minute.

And if you’re responsible for your whanau’s tech, then let them know this is happening. Customers can visit a store, call us, or check out our website for information on how to get a phone that is compatible with our 4G and 5G networks.”

Note for editors

For more information on what coverage is available at a certain address, head to https://one.nz/coverage/

Ookla reporting can be found here: New Zealand's Mobile and Broadband Internet Speeds - Speedtest Global Index

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