Japanese telco SoftBank has postponed its plan to phase out its 3G network due to the recent earthquake in the country. The company had earlier planned to retire the legacy network on January 31, 2024.
In a statement, the company said that it delayed the plan to shut down 3G as many of its customers were facing difficulty in switching to 4G and 5G services. It said that the date to switch off the 3G network has been pushed to April 15, 2024.
“In consideration of the difficulties some customers are facing when switching from 3G to 4G/5G services due to the earthquake, SoftBank is postponing the discontinuation of its 3G service to April 15, 2024,” said SoftBank in a statement.
“If there is any further extension to the discontinuation date for customers in disaster-affected areas, SoftBank will provide updates in due course.”
On January 01, 2024, an earthquake recording 7.6 on the Richter scale struck the Noto Peninsula which has claimed the lives of 232 people to date while causing catastrophic damages to the physical infrastructure. Read next: UK Preparing For 2G/3G Shutdown By 2033
The earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula on January 1, recording 7.6 on the Richter scale.
SoftBank has said that it plans to see off 3G around mid-April, 2024.
In Japan, SoftBank faces competition from KDDI for mobile services. KDDI has entered a cooperation with SpaceX company Starlink to reinstate internet services since the earthquake.
3G is a declining network in Japan with leading telcos making firm plans on calling it quits. KDDI called time on its 3G network in March 2022. Another operator NTT Docomo has targeted early 2026 to pull the plug on the 3rd generation network.
As 5G continues to pervade across larger areas, operators tend to furlough 3G in favor of 4G and 5G. Japan is also cooperating with the US with an aim to take an early lead in 6G.