Telecoms firm Spark has completed its 3G network shutdown in New Zealand.

The retirement means that all 3G networks across the country have now been switched off.

It follows One NZ completing its 3G shutdown last week, while 2degrees finalized its 3G network shutdown in February.

Spark had initially planned to call time on its 3G service last year, but extended its deadline to March 2026 to give people more time to prepare for the change.

The carrier stated that its decision to phase out 3G will favor its 4G and 5G networks.

"We’ve upgraded all 3G-only cell towers to 4G or 5G, built over 120 new towers since announcing our shutdown date in June last year, and sent more than four million notifications to customers," said Greg Clark, customer director, Spark New Zealand.

The company, which first launched its 3G network in 2009, last year said less than two percent of its entire network data traffic still ran over 3G, while 3G voice calls had declined by 85 percent since 2019.

Spark's focus on upgrading its 4G and 5G mobile networks comes as the carrier claims that mobile data demand has surged by 544 percent since 3G was first introduced.