MTS will completely wind down 3G network in 2027

MOSCOW. Oct 9 (Interfax) - PJSC MTS intends to completely switch off 3G base stations in 2027, transferring the freed-up frequencies to 4G.

"MTS plans to switch off the majority of 3G base stations by the end of 2026, and to close the remaining small number of sites in 2027," the company's press service told Interfax.

On Thursday, MTS said that it ceased using third-generation networks in nine cities in Q3: Maikop (Adygea), Primorsko-Akhtarsk (Krasnodar Territory), Asha (Chelyabinsk region), Pereslavl-Zalessky (Yaroslavl region), Artyom (Primorsky Territory), Komsomolsk-on-Amur (Khabarovsk Territory), Chernyakhovsk (Kaliningrad region), Chapayevsk and Kinel (Samara region). In October, 3G will be switched off in the cities of Velikiye Luki (Pskov region), Zlatoust (Chelyabinsk region) and Yaroslavl, and by the end of 2025 in Sochi and along the Black Sea coast from Krasnaya Polyana to Tuapse (Krasnodar Territory).

The company is therefore implementing its previously announced plans to switch off half of the remaining 3G base stations in Russia in 2025. A total of 20% have already been switched off and another 30% will be decommissioned by the end of the year.

MTS began switching off 3G in 2023-2024. The company ceased using 3G networks in 12 Russian cities in the first half of this year.

The transfer of frequencies to LTE increases data transfer speeds 20%-25% and expands access to modern digital services and VoLTE technology, the company said.