https://www.telecompaper.com/news/switc ... y--1306913 - ostatnie parę miesięcy do wyłączenia 3G w Vodafone Holandia:
Switching off 3G does not mean mobile subscribers will be without a network, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK) said in response to parliamentary questions from the Socialist Party SP. Vodafone plans to stop its 3G network at the end of this year. The SP expressed concern that low-income consumers will not be able to replace their still working 3G mobile phone and asked whether compensation would be offered.
Ziggo offers digital receivers to customers as part of its analogue TV shutdown. But EZK noted that this particular comparison was flawed. The TV receivers are in a loan model and remain the property of VodafoneZiggo, while a smartphone becomes the property of the user.
EZK explained that it is not possible to make a 3G smartphone suitable for 4G, because not only the antenna has to be replaced, but also the processors and memory and what comes together in the system-on-a chip (SoC). After switching off 3G, 2G and 4G will still be available, EZK said after talking to VodafoneZiggo. 2G is slower than 3G, but will still be possible.
The ministry noted that Vodafone started informing people of the 3G switch off two years before the date. The operator stopped selling subscriptions for 3G-only phones in the fall of 2017. Finally, sales staff have been instructed to tell people the operator will no longer be using the 3G network from January 2020.
Vodafone customers are contract-free and can to switch to KPN or T-Mobile Netherlands, who have not yet stopped using UMTS. That said, KPN has also announced plans to end 3G. T-Mobile NL said it will first switch off the 2G network.
