2degrees decommissioned 3G services on around 100 rural sites in December, then shut down 3G services in Palmerston North and Rotorua in mid January, before the full shutdown of nationwide 3G services last night.

“We have been communicating with impacted customers. However, it is understandable that some individuals may have waited until the last minute to upgrade their device,” chief executive Mark Callander said.

Why is the plug being pulled?

All three telcos are shutting down their older 3G mobile networks to concentrate on 4G and 5G – meaning some older phones won’t work, including for emergency calls, and some security and health alarms won’t work.

The telcos say 4G-capable phones start from $59.

2%-3% still on 3G

Following an industry-wide publicity campaign, Spark says the number of devices on its network that rely on 3G has halved.

“We’re now just 2% of all devices on our network still relying on 3G,” a Spark spokeswoman said this morning.

That equates to about 50,000 devices, from phones to gadgets like Kindles and health and security alarms that rely on 3G cellular connectivity.

There are also some parallel-imported “4G” phones that don’t support the VoLTE technology that Spark, One NZ and 2degrees use for 4G calling.

A One NZ spokesman said: “Less than 3% of all devices on our network, including IoT, still rely on 2G/3G” following a 65% decline in data use and 77% fall in 2G/3G use over the past year.

To see if your phone will work after your provider’s 3G shutdown, text 3G to 550.

Spark 3G shutdown in numbers

Spark also released stats on 3G, 4G and 5G usage, comparing June 2025 (when the 3G shutdown date was announced) with January 2026.

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Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.