You need to think three times – Newspaper Kommersant No. 201 (7402) of 10/28/2022

The work of the 3G communication standard will remain in large cities at least until 2025, and in the regions of the country – until 2027, the Ministry of Digital Development expects. Previously, operators planned to complete the main transfer of frequencies of this standard for 4G by 2025. But equipment availability remains a constraint amid supply issues and a slowdown in customer replacement of 3G devices. Experts believe that operators are waiting for the supply of domestic 4G equipment, which should begin in 2023. The quality of communication, they note, is unlikely to deteriorate due to the delay, but it will not be possible to improve it.

The withdrawal of 3G communication networks from commercial use in Russia will begin in large cities in 2025, follows from the report of Dmitry Tur, director of the telecommunications market regulation department of the Ministry of Digital Development, which Kommersant has read. The report was presented at the Spektr-2022 forum on October 26. In local areas outside major cities, the withdrawal of 3G will begin in 2027, the document says.

The main problem of the output of 3G networks is terminals, follows from the report.

We are talking about both network equipment on the operator’s side, and client devices that support this and previous standards. In other countries, 3G shutdown began as early as 2021 (Czech Republic, Germany) and 2022 (USA, Italy).

Previously, Russian telecom operators and analysts expected 3G networks to start shutting down in Russia in 2023, and by 2025 they would be maintained only in regions with low population density. Vimpelcom, in particular, announced plans to abandon 3G in more than 25 regions by the end of 2023 (see “Kommersant” dated July 5). Then the company said that frequency refarming would increase the capacity of the data transmission network by 50%. VimpelCom has now clarified that 3G networks remain to maintain communication “where it is needed, but in a much smaller volume.” “Further plans for refarming the 2100 MHz band, which is currently used for 3G, will depend on customer needs and the situation with the availability of domestic equipment for 4G,” the company added.

Operators are interested in using the frequency spectrum under current standards, including the next generations, MTS stressed. But the operator will act as 3G subscriber devices are eliminated, the company specified.

MegaFon explained that “they are gradually transferring 3G frequencies to LTE, but now they are not considering the time frame for completely shutting down the third generation network.” “This is due to the large number of working devices in the mobile network with 3G support,” MegaFon added. Tele2 is not ready to announce the timing of the shutdown of 3G due to difficulties with the availability of network equipment and the slowdown in the replacement of 3G devices by customers, both phones and M2M devices, including ATMs, terminals, security systems.

Konstantin Ankilov, CEO of TMT Consulting, noted that there are “a certain number” of smartphone users on the market that are not equipped with 4G, but are used to access the Internet: “In addition, in a number of remote places, 3G can provide Internet access outside the 4G network zone “.

The delay in turning off 3G may be due to an attempt to synchronize the process with the start of large-scale production of domestic 4G equipment, MForum analyst Alexei Boyko believes: “By turning off foreign 3G 2100 MHz equipment, operators will be able to launch the LTE network on Russian equipment at the same frequencies, if time will be produced in sufficient quantity and acceptable quality. This solves two problems at once, the analyst explained: expanding the bandwidth of 4G networks and stimulating the purchase of Russian base stations by operators. Until the end of the year, companies must conclude forward contracts with manufacturers for the supply of domestic 4G and 5G base stations, which is planned to begin as early as 2023 (see “Kommersant” dated October 5).

TelecomDaily CEO Denis Kuskov noted that it is now impossible to replace third-generation networks with 4G without full-scale mass production of domestic equipment: “But full-scale production is still far away. To replace 3G, a very large amount of equipment will be required, as operators will most likely have to completely upgrade equipment in each of the regions.” At the same time, according to the analyst, the hitch with turning off 3G will not lead to a deterioration in the quality of the mobile Internet, although it will not allow it to be improved: “LTE resources will last at least until the end of 2024.”

Yulia Tishina, Anastasia Gavrilyuk