Japanese mobile network operator SoftBank has confirmed its plans to discontinue its 3G services on April 15, 2024. Originally scheduled for January 31, 2024, the 3G shutdown was postponed due to the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. However, considering the difficulties some customers face when switching from 3G to 4G/5G services following the earthquake, SoftBank announced the postponement of its 3G service discontinuation within Ishikawa Prefecture until July 31, the company said in an official release on Wednesday.
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3G Service Discontinuation
SoftBank said customers subscribed to 3G price plans, contracts unable to use VoLTE services on price plans supporting 4G/5G, and customers using specific mobile handsets purchased from SoftBank that are only compatible with 3G services, will have their subscriptions automatically cancelled on April 16. This excludes customers with contracts registered to addresses in Ishikawa Prefecture as of April 7, 2024.
Network Optimisation Partnership
In another recent development in February, SoftBank announced the successful demonstration of a capability that optimises a network automatically at high speed in the commercial environment of a 5G non-standalone (5G NSA) network by controlling a device (server) outside the base station in partnership with Ericsson.
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Evaluation Confirmations
In addition to the Proof of Concept (PoC) at the stadium in September 2023, SoftBank and Ericsson conducted evaluations in a commercial network environment at a dome stadium where a music event was held and at major railway stations in Tokyo in November 2023. These evaluations confirmed that the High-speed Automatic Optimization Capability was effective even for various traffic patterns.
