BT Group outlined an ambition to complete the switch-off of EE’s 3G network by March 2024, as its chief networks officer Greg Mccall revealed discontinuing the service in a trial area had yielded no customer complaints about coverage or performance.

The company stopped supporting the legacy network technology in the town of Warrington in July, ahead of its planned discontinuation of 3G across the country. It had previously slated full shut down for some time in 2024.

Mccall explained as well as a lack of network complaints from users, there were no capacity issues on the company’s 2G or 4G network in the trial area despite a rise in traffic.

Alongside results of the pilot the executive revealed the main switch-off will begin in January, with a target of completion within three months.

As BT’s senior executives have cited numerous times switching off the network offers significant power and cost savings. Mccall said as of today (18 September) 3G consumes 35 per cent of its mobile network’s total power with usage by customers “falling all the time”.

Within its switch-off plan the operator has various schemes in place to ensure vulnerable customers are able to stay connected in line with expectations outlined by regulator Ofcom.

Its UK rivals have all revealed timelines for retiring the technology, with Virgin Media O2 set to the final operator in the country to switch-off the lights on 3G when it sunsets it in 2025.