--- title: South Africa’s 3G networks could go dark within two years description: Vodacom believes South Africa could be ready to switch off 3G networks within 12 to 24 months. Group CTO Dejan Kastelic says no operator will want to do it... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-3g-networks-could-go-dark-within-two-years-mbfed7bsf twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: South Africa’s 3G networks could go dark within two years | daily.dev og:description: Vodacom believes South Africa could be ready to switch off 3G networks within 12 to 24 months. Group CTO Dejan Kastelic says no operator will want to do it... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-3g-networks-could-go-dark-within-two-years-mbfed7bsf og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/mBFed7BSF.png og:image:alt: South Africa’s 3G networks could go dark within two years og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # South Africa’s 3G networks could go dark within two years **[TechCentral](https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Vodacom believes South Africa could be ready to switch off 3G networks within 12 to 24 months. Group CTO Dejan Kastelic says no operator will want to do it alone, since an operator that switches off first risks handing its remaining 3G customers to a rival. 3G handsets make up slightly below 10% of devices on Vodacom's South African network. Turning off 3G would free spectrum for 4G, which carries more traffic over the same bandwidth. Kastelic wants operators to agree a shared shutdown date and announce it a year ahead. South Africa dropped its 31 December 2027 legacy shutdown deadline in July 2025, leaving timing to operators. Kastelic expects 2G to hang on for several years longer than 3G, and 2G still serves feature phones and machine-to-machine devices. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why hasn't South Africa shut down its 3G networks yet if 4G is better? No single operator wants to switch off 3G first because its remaining 3G customers would likely move to a rival network that still offers 3G, subsidized there until they also shut down. Vodacom's group CTO Dejan Kastelic wants all operators to agree on one shutdown date and announce it a year in advance so no one loses customers. _Anyone tracking telecom infrastructure shifts like this can follow the coordination challenges on daily.dev._ ### What percentage of a mobile network's devices still need to be on 3G before a shutdown makes sense? Vodacom's group CTO called slightly below 10% of devices on its South African network being 3G handsets 'a good number' for considering a shutdown, expecting it could switch off 3G within 12 to 24 months. The company also expects 2G to persist years longer than 3G since it still serves feature phones and machine-to-machine devices. _Engineers planning network migrations can track real-world shutdown thresholds like this on daily.dev._ ### Is there still a government-mandated deadline for shutting down 2G and 3G networks in South Africa? No, South Africa's communications department formally dropped the 31 December 2027 deadline in July 2025, leaving the shutdown timing entirely to mobile operators. The minister had said in November 2024 that the switch-off should be market led, warning an imposed date could leave behind millions of mostly poor South Africans. _Those monitoring telecom regulation changes can keep up with shifting deadlines like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Why 2G will outlast 3G in South Africa](https://daily.dev/posts/why-2g-will-outlast-3g-in-south-africa-lm11oavm8) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The hidden drag on South Africa’s mobile networks](https://daily.dev/posts/the-hidden-drag-on-south-africa-s-mobile-networks-c7cysuxzu) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Why South Africans spend so little time on 5G](https://daily.dev/posts/why-south-africans-spend-so-little-time-on-5g-cmnt051wa) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [South Africa’s telecoms sector enters a new growth phase](https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-telecoms-sector-enters-a-new-growth-phase-vuxrejve3) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-3g-networks-could-go-dark-within-two-years-mbfed7bsf) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"South Africa’s 3G networks could go dark within two years","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-3g-networks-could-go-dark-within-two-years-mbfed7bsf","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-3g-networks-could-go-dark-within-two-years-mbfed7bsf"},"datePublished":"2026-10-28T12:08:36.165Z","dateModified":"2026-10-28T15:01:10.972Z","description":"Vodacom believes South Africa could be ready to switch off 3G networks within 12 to 24 months. 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Vodacom's group CTO Dejan Kastelic wants all operators to agree on one shutdown date and announce it a year in advance so no one loses customers. Anyone tracking telecom infrastructure shifts like this can follow the coordination challenges on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What percentage of a mobile network's devices still need to be on 3G before a shutdown makes sense?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Vodacom's group CTO called slightly below 10% of devices on its South African network being 3G handsets 'a good number' for considering a shutdown, expecting it could switch off 3G within 12 to 24 months. The company also expects 2G to persist years longer than 3G since it still serves feature phones and machine-to-machine devices. 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