South African mobile carrier MTN Group has confirmed that it will retire its 3G network by the end of 2026.

The company updated its 3G retirement plans on its website, noting that it will reallocate the spectrum towards its 4G and 5G networks instead.

Earlier this year, reports suggested that the telco was on course to retire the network by the end of this year.

MTN has already shut down its 3G network in several Cape Town neighborhoods after it told certain customers in Cape Town about its pilot 3G switch-off in January last year.

"The 3G network relies on older technology that consumes a large portion of available spectrum, limiting bandwidth for newer and more efficient technologies like the 4G LTE and 5G networks. By reallocating the spectrum, MTN can improve capacity and speed, enhancing coverage and connectivity for its customers," notes MTN on its website.

The company's CEO Charles Molapisi told ITWeb this week that MTN will keep its 2G network going for a bit longer, in order to support some machine-to-machine (M2M) devices.

“MTN’s target is to decommission the 3G layer of the network. The reason for this is because it is a very inefficient layer, which is quite expensive to maintain. We can use the spectrum for better technologies, such as 4G,” Molapisi told ITWeb.

“We want to collapse the 3G layer and narrow the 2G layer and just provide a sliver of 2G. We have already started on this. In some areas, because of the level of 4G penetration, we have re-farmed some of the 3G network. It’s not national yet, but the smart way of doing this is to look at it by locality.”

He added that it doesn't make sense to keep the network going, along with 2G, 4G, and 5G, citing higher costs and maintenance of the network.

MTN launched its 5G network back in June 2020. At present, the carrier covers 44 percent of the country's population. By the end of year, MTN aims to increase this to 60 percent.

Telcos across the world are repurposing 3G spectrum for their respective 4G and 5G networks. Earlier this week, Ukrainian telco Kyivstar said it will phase out 3G in favor of enhancing its 4G, and eventually 5G networks in parts of Ukraine.