Orange plans to shut down its 2G, 3G networks in Europe by 2030

Orange plans to shut down its 2G, 3G networks in Europe by 2030

Obsolete and decommissioned are words that operators often use when talking about turning off older technology. Orange's vision for its 2G and 3G networks is more like telecom euthanasia. By 2030, the head of France Telecom aims to shut down these platforms effortlessly across Europe, leaving almost no trace. The bold move, announced on the afternoon of the first day of Mobile World Congress, aims to simplify and free up spectrum for newer, more efficient mobile technologies. Switching off 2G and 3G will allow Orange to reduce energy use and costs. It also removes barriers to the introduction of open RAN, a technology not designed to support legacy standards. Starting in 2025, Orange said it aims to only buy network products with open RAN interfaces. Details of the plan involve phasing out 3G by 2025 in almost the entire European region outside of France, and 2G by 2030. In France, the process will be reversed, with Orange shutting down 2G in France by 2025 and 3G in France by the end of 2028.

China Telecom and China Unicom jointly built and shared 700,000 5G base stations

At the 2022 Mobile World Congress Digital Leaders Program Roundtable, Li Zhengmao, general manager of China Telecom, revealed that by the end of January 2022, the number of 5G users of China Telecom has approached 200 million, and China Telecom and China Unicom have deployed co-construction and shared 5G base stations. 700,000. In September 2019, China Telecom and China Unicom fully launched the co-construction and sharing of 5G networks, jointly building a 5G access network nationwide, and carrying out co-construction and sharing throughout the 5G life cycle. After more than two years of close cooperation and continuous innovation, the two global TOP 10 operators have built the largest 5G SA co-construction and shared commercial network, providing a strong network foundation for the development of the two 5G services.

AT&T deploys 5-Gig fiber service in fiber market

AT&T has made a big splash with multigigabit fiber service, with AT&T announcing that it has expanded its symmetrical 2-Gig and 5-Gig to a portion of its full fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) coverage. The expansion comes after AT&T first rolled out its multi-gig service to more than 70 U.S. markets. AT&T said the expansion includes portions of its fiber footprint spanning more than 100 U.S. metro areas. It estimates that about 7 million locations in 21 states now have access to its new multi-gigabit. AT&T said it will continue to expand multi-gigabit capabilities across its FTTP coverage in 2022, and reiterated plans to expand fiber to more than 30 million customer locations by the end of 2025. Fiber build markets include Abilene, Tyler, Victoria, Wichita Falls, Texas, and Longview; Lawton, Oklahoma; and Youngstown, Ohio.

Swisscom to shut down 3G network in 2025

Swisscom became the latest operator to announce the imminent shutdown of its 3G network, although the Swiss group has kept its aging network on hold for a bit longer than some operators and plans to keep it up and running until the end of 2025. In neighboring Germany, all three mobile network operators have already shut down their 3G networks, with Telefonica Germany being the last to do so in 2021. In the UK, Vodafone has confirmed plans to shut down its legacy 3G network from 2023. BT's mobile operator EE has said it will phase out its 3G service by 2023, while CK Hutchison's Three UK ended sales of 3G equipment in 2018. In the US, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are all expected to shut down their 3G networks this year. Meanwhile, Orange Group aims to shut down its 2G and 3G networks across Europe by 2030.

Germany eases rules to speed up fiber and 5G buildout

Deutsche Telekom is advancing the deployment of its fibre-to-the-home (FTTP) and 5G networks. The operator aims to deploy fibre to at least 10 million premises by 2024, but Gopalan made it clear that this is a challenging and often expensive task due to Germany's complex structure at the state and municipal level. The German government also seems to have been paying close attention to the claims made by Gopalan et al. In fact, achieving widespread fibre and 4G/5G deployment by 2030 is a political goal, and the German government is working hard to help operators make this process as smooth as possible. . Germany's Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV, until recently known as the Federal Ministry for Transport and Digital Infrastructure or BMVI) has presented its latest Gigabit strategy, which outlines a number of key goals, including making at least half of Germany's The venue provides FTTH network and better mobile network coverage on railway lines.

Meta to invest $800 million to build hyperscale data center in Missouri

Meta (formerly Facebook) has announced plans to build a hyperscale data center approaching 1 million square feet in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. According to the Missouri Partnership.Partnership, Meta said it plans to spend more than $800 million on construction, with a goal of being operational by 2024. The Missouri Partnership, a public-private economic development organization, is listed by Meta as one of several "community partners" for the project. Meta estimates that the data center will employ around 100 people, and its facilities will use 100 percent renewable energy. Meta claims that the data center will be at least 80 percent more efficient with water than a typical facility. Meta has revealed that it currently has 47 data centers under construction. According to Meta's plan, capital expenditures will reach $29-34 billion in 2022, up from $19 billion in 2021.