Tango and Telindus, brands of Proximus Luxembourg, have announced the closure of 3G Networks, driven by the growth of traffic on 5G Networks. 3G Network is targeted to shutdown by January 2024. Tango offers fixed, and mobile telephony, Internet and television services to residential customers and small businesses with less than ten employees, and Telindus provides ICT and fixed and mobile services to medium-sized and large companies and public administrations in Luxembourg.
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Evolution for 5G
This will help the brands develop their latest generation network, which is advanced and energy efficient. According to the statement, the 5G Network of Tango and Telindu will cover the nation in 2023. Since its launch in 2020, Tango has seen 5G data traffic explode, and in 2022 alone, the data traffic was multiplied by 10x, with the evolution of smartphones and the content ecosystem.
Decline in Traffic on 3G Network
3G Network, launched in 2003, is seeing a constant decline in traffic, and it now represents less than 1% of the total traffic. So, to efficiently use the mobile spectrum, Tango and Telindus will use the frequencies for 5G.
The transition will occur in parallel with the deployments of 5G to achieve national coverage in 2023. This move will ensure consumers get a better network experience, technology, and performance on the latest network. According to the statement, customers with 3G handsets will be able to continue to call and send SMS without any problems on the 2G Network.
4G in 2012
Tango became the first operator to launch the revolutionary 4G in the Grand Duchy in 2012, followed by deploying 4G+ after two years. Tango and Telindus announced the first live 5G Network connections in Luxembourg on April 26, 2019. Proximus Luxembourg brings together the Tango and Telindus brands under one umbrella.
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Shutdown of 2G and 3G
Across the world, telcos are announcing the shutdown of 2G and 3G Networks and using the spectrum for 5G Networks. French operator Altice France (SFR) also announced plans to shut down 2G and 3G networks, launched in 1991 and 2000, respectively, in 2026 and 2028. Bouygues Telecom, a French telco, had plans to shut down its 2G network at the end of 2026 and 3G services by 2029. The spectrum of 2G and 3G services would be allocated to 4G and 5G Networks for better and improved quality and capacity.
