Zhejiang Unicom says it will fully shut down its provincial 3G network on June 15, 2026, marking the final stage of a long-running transition away from older mobile infrastructure. Once the shutdown takes effect, devices, SIM cards, and legacy plans that rely only on 3G service will no longer be able to place calls or access mobile data in Zhejiang.
According to the carrier, the phaseout has been underway since 2023. After several years of spectrum clearing, service migration, and user transition work, the company now says the region is ready for a complete cutoff. It also says current 4G and 5G coverage already reaches urban and rural areas across the province, with enough capacity and service quality to handle mainstream communication needs.
The move follows a broader industry trend. Retiring older networks helps carriers free up spectrum, reduce the cost of maintaining multiple parallel standards, and focus more resources on newer mobile services. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology previously called for faster 2G and 3G shutdown efforts as part of the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan for the information and communications sector.
Zhejiang Unicom also outlined support options for affected users. People whose devices already support 4G or 5G but do not yet have VoLTE enabled can visit a nearby Unicom service hall and have the feature activated at no cost. Those still using 3G-only phones or other hardware will need to upgrade to newer compatible devices, and the company says in-store upgrade incentives may be available.
For enterprise and industrial customers still using 3G-based IoT equipment, the operator recommends contacting device suppliers or account managers as soon as possible to plan module upgrades and service adaptation. In short, Zhejiang Unicom is treating June 15 as a hard deadline, and customers still dependent on 3G have a limited window left to make the switch.
