Vodafone Ireland chief executive Amanda Nelson said the telecoms company has seen a sharp increase in customer data usage in recent years. Photograph: Alan Betson
The telecoms company, which was also recently named Ireland’s best mobile network for the ninth consecutive year by Accenture-owned engineering services company Umlaut, will shut off its 3G network in Dublin city in the coming weeks, redirecting capacity to its 4G and 5G networks.chief executive Amanda Nelson said the closure of 3G in Limerick city boosted the speed and capacity of its other networks by 20 per cent overnight.
She said the number of phone users relying solely on 3G was “sub 2 per cent” currently but that Vodafone continues to monitor those figures, which will determine the pace at which it continues the process. The group expects to complete the shut down “before the end of the year or the spring next year.”
Inflationary pressures were blamed for the operating loss, with energy costs rising significantly, the company said at the time.