Vodacom’s plan to shut down its 3G network before 2G is turning heads across South Africa’s telecoms sector, but the logic is becoming harder to ignore. In a market where the cheapest smartphones and legacy devices still dominate large parts of the user base, the operator says demand for 3G device support is already trailing 2G demand on its network.
That is a striking reversal of what many consumers might expect. In most countries, 2G is usually the first legacy network to go, with 3G following later. But in South Africa, where affordability remains the main barrier to handset upgrades, Vodacom believes the opposite could happen. As we reported earlier, the move reflects the reality that millions of users and machines still rely on older connectivity standards to stay online, make calls and send texts.
Vodacom spokesperson Byron Kennedy said the operator is watching subscriber behaviour closely. He explained that most 3G devices can fall back to 2G, which means customers using older handsets may not lose service immediately if 3G is switched off first. If current trends hold, he said, 3G is more likely to be sunset before 2G.
The story of these networks stretches back decades. 2G first went commercial in 1991, when Finland’s Radiolinja launched the world’s first GSM network. It was a landmark moment in telecoms history, replacing analogue systems with digital mobile services and making SMS, encrypted voice calls and basic data possible.
3G came later, with NTT DoCoMo in Japan launching the first commercial wideband CDMA-based network in October 2001. That generation opened the door to practical mobile internet, video calling and the first mainstream mobile browsing experience. In South Africa, operators rolled out 2G in 1994 and began introducing 3G from 2004.
Vodacom’s comments come at a critical time for the local market. Nearly a year ago, communications minister Solly Malatsi removed the regulatory deadline that had previously been set for switching off 2G and 3G, effectively handing operators the power to decide when to retire those networks. That changed the conversation entirely. No operator can simply pull the plug while millions of customers and machine-to-machine devices still depend on old technology.
In fact, Vodacom said it cannot predict how long 2G will remain active. That uncertainty is central to the debate. For now, the industry is caught between the need to modernise networks and the reality that a large chunk of South Africans still live on the edge of the affordability curve.
Why Vodacom’s 3G network shutdown could come before 2G
The biggest obstacle to faster migration is the price of a decent smartphone. A recent report commissioned by the Development Bank of Southern Africa found that a “decently capable” 4G smartphone costs more than 16% of South Africa’s basic minimum wage, which works out to about R800 at current wage levels.
That is a heavy ask for many households. At the report’s launch, Pieter Grootes of consultancy Networks Anonymous pointed out that when people have to choose between a basic need like electricity and a more expensive handset, the need always comes first. That reality is shaping South Africa’s entire network transition.
Government has tried to respond. In February 2025, National Treasury scrapped ad valorem luxury duty on smartphones priced at R2 500 or less, following lobbying led by Malatsi. That was seen as a meaningful step, but not a complete fix. Olebogeng Ramatlhodi, indirect tax leader at Deloitte South Africa, said at the time that removing VAT from the same category and adding a subsidy for eligible consumers would go further.
Operators have also started pushing low-cost devices into the market. Vodacom launched a R249 4G smartphone in September 2024, while MTN followed in May 2025 with a R99 subsidised handset aimed at 1.2-million customers. Then-MTN South Africa CEO Charles Molapisi told TechCentral that the programme was directly linked to migrating users away from legacy networks and simplifying the operator’s network architecture.
But phones are only one part of the problem. Operators say there is still a long tail of 2G-dependent tracking and telemetry devices scattered across the country. These include wildlife collars, vehicle trackers, factory sensors and other machine-to-machine tools that often sit in remote or difficult-to-reach areas.
Cell C said 2G remains important because it still supports basic voice and SMS services at a very low device cost, as well as certain older M2M applications. The operator added that these devices are often designed to remain in use for years, sometimes in places where replacing them is expensive or impractical. That means migration has to happen carefully and on a case-by-case basis.
MTN South Africa said 2G chipsets are still popular because they are cheap, low power and meet minimal data needs. However, the operator added that demand in the Internet of Things market is moving towards LTE-based technologies. MTN has already rolled out narrowband IoT on its 4G network, while Vodacom offers a similar NB-IoT capability.
As legacy devices disappear, operators will eventually refarm their spectrum for 4G and 5G. That will reduce power usage, lower maintenance costs and make networks more efficient. Vodacom said its future network mix will remain competitor-sensitive, but it expects 5G terminals to overtake 4G devices over time. Cell C, meanwhile, says it is still too early to predict exactly what its long-term network shape will look like.
For MTN, the direction is clear. The company said it runs a multi-generation network today to serve different customer needs, but over the next five to 10 years the network will become increasingly data-driven and anchored on 4G and 5G. As usage falls and customers migrate, it expects legacy systems to be phased out.
That is the future South Africa’s mobile industry is heading towards, but the pace will depend on affordability, device availability and the country’s huge installed base of older technology. For now, Vodacom’s 3G network shutdown may arrive before its 2G switch-off, not because 3G is more advanced, but because the market has not yet moved far enough to let 2G die first.