Amanda Nelson, the chief executive of Vodafone Ireland, recently announced plans for the telecom giant’s anticipated shut down of their 3G network ahead of the coming spring. Having already executed the closure in Limerick and Cork cities, the company now intends to cut off its network support in Dublin, and instead focus on the enhancement of their 4G and 5G capacities.
On receiving the ninth consecutive award from Umlaut, an Accenture-owned engineering company, for being the top mobile carrier in Ireland, Vodafone has shifted its operational focus to escalating consumer data demand. Nelson stressed that the 3G network termination in Limerick has bolstered the efficiency and capacity of other functioning networks by a significant 20 per cent overnight.
The company plans to supplement the 3G discontinuation with a hefty investment of €500 million over the forthcoming five years, earmarked to enhance their network quality extensively. According to Nelson, the annual average data usage by customers showcases a perpetual increment of 30%. The company’s strategic plan to support this growing demand includes a dual approach: upgrading the 4G and 5G networks for improved speed and substantial capacity enhancement, while concurrently shutting down the 3G services.
The telecom giant states that less than 2% of their user base at present rely purely on 3G, and they are keenly tracking these figures to determine the pace of their transition plan. The company projects a full network shutdown completion before spring arrives next year.
Despite recording an operating loss of €21.8 million at the end of fiscal year March 2023, an improvement from the previous year’s loss of €26.3 million, the company experienced a surge in revenues, which it attributes to a larger customer base and increased contractual prices. Vodafone acknowledged the challenges presented by inflationary pressures and rising energy costs, but it remains optimistic about future growth.
Ms Nelson affirmed that albeit the decline of inflation in latter days, it was impossible to forecast if a surge in prices was looming ahead. “It’s beyond my capacity to predict the future course of inflation,” she commented. “Whilst it’s better than before, every price hike we implement is directly connected to inflation, never whimsical.”