One NZ joins 2degrees in pausing 3G shutdown amid weather emergencies

The Rural Connectivity Group is a joint venture formed by Spark, One NZ and 2degrees to cover rural areas. The telcos share towers, but have their own electronics on each.

Severe weather has caused widespread devastation across the North Island, including in the Waioweka Gorge. Photo / NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi

One NZ also announced $30,000 in donations from its charitable foundation for severe weather relief around Tauranga and the East Cape.

2degrees: One-week pause

2degrees yesterday said it had paused its 3G shutdown for a week, citing several states of emergency due to weather.

The telco switched off its 3G in Rotorua and Palmerston North on January 15 and planned to pull the mobile service from the rest of its network today.

Chief executive Mark Callander said the telco made the decision in an abundance of caution while communities in Northland, Thames-Coromandel, Hauraki, Bay of Plenty and Tairāwhiti continue to recover from the impacts of recent weather events.

“Currently, there are official states of emergency across the North Island and the risks of further slips and road closures.

“While we think that the impact of the 3G shutdown is unlikely to cause any issues, we are taking a safety-first, customer-focused approach,” Callander said.

When is the plug being pulled?

All three telcos are shutting down their older 3G mobile networks to concentrate on 4G and 5G – meaning some older phones won’t work, including for emergency calls, and some security and health alarms won’t work.

Spark’s shutdown won’t begin until March 31.

2degrees’ shutdown – outside of the already shuttered Rotorua and Palmerston North 3G networks – will now take place in a week’s time, as things stand.

One NZ’s shutdown timetable from here is:

February 3: Otago and SouthlandFeb 10: Canterbury, West Coast, Tasman, MarlboroughFeb 17: NorthlandFeb 24: Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, WhanganuiMarch 3: ChristchurchMarch 10: AucklandMarch 17: Wellington

2%-3% still on 3G

Following an industry-wide publicity campaign, Spark says the number of devices on its network that rely on 3G has halved.

“We’re now just 2% of all devices on our network still relying on 3G,” a Spark spokeswoman said this morning.

That equates to about 50,000 devices, from phones to gadgets like Kindles and health and security alarms that rely on 3G cellular connectivity.

There are also some parallel-imported “4G” phones that don’t support the VoLTE technology that Spark, One NZ and 2degrees use for 4G calling.

A One NZ spokesman said: “Less than 3% of all devices on our network, including IoT, still rely on 2G/3G” following a 65% decline in data use and 77% fall in 2G/3G use over the past year.

To see if your phone will work after your provider’s 3G shutdown, text 3G to 550.

Spark 3G shutdown in numbers

Spark also released stats on 3G, 4G and 5G usage, comparing June 2025 (when the 3G shutdown date was announced) with January 2026.

3G data usage down 50% and only 0.25% of Spark’s total network data traffic3G voice usage down 70%4G data usage up 17%5G data usage up 37%Over 110,000 Spark customers have used the free SMS device-checkerOver 10,000 Spark customers have checked their device compatibility onlineTop unsupported devices upgraded: iPhone 6 and Huawei Y5Device most commonly upgraded to: Galaxy A06 5G

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Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.