Operational changes to VMO2’s 2G and 3G networks in 2025 

Adam Hayes

COO

LinkedIn

Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) have recently made us aware of planned changes to their 2G and 3G networks. 

Last year VMO2 announced plans to phase out 3G services in 2025, and with recent 3G switch-off trials successfully completed, they remain on track to switch off 3G by the end of next year – a move that will reduce energy consumption and deliver enhanced speeds and reliability for customers with more efficient 4G and 5G technologies.   

With this work progressing well, VMO2 are now assessing the future of their older 2G network and will start work to move traffic away from the 2G network, including roaming traffic. 

What is changing:  

Unlike VMO2’s 3G network, 2G won’t be turned off completely. VMO2 have said this will play an important role in carrying emergency calls in areas without 4G coverage and supporting data traffic for Internet of Things (IoT) communications, including smart metering. 

To preserve capacity on VMO2’s 2G network, they will withdraw the 2G and 3G inbound roaming services on 1 October 2025, and redirect roaming users to their more efficient 4G, 5G and LPWAN networks. 

For most customers, VMO2 have given assurances that these changes will happen seamlessly in the background; however, some customers will need to upgrade to a 4G, 5G or LPWAN capable device, and/or upgrade their SIM, and ensure their device supports and has 4G calling/VoLTE turned on for voice calls to work effectively. 

To learn more about this announcement from VMO2, read this blog from Jo Betram Managing Director of Virgin Media O2 Business. 

Your Eseye Account Manager will be directly in touch if you are impacted to discuss next steps. Our goal is to ensure that your IoT devices are upgraded to 4G, 5G, LPWAN and VoLTE roaming services before 30 September 2025, and that no customers are reliant on 2G/3G roaming services with O2 by this date. 

As we have agreements with both Vodafone and EE, we can migrate any affected devices to their networks, which will still provide 2G/3G service.    

As the MNO landscape continues to evolve, we recommend staying up-to-date with the latest 2G and 3G network shutdown updates.