Optus Mobile Review ALDI Mobile Review Amaysim Mobile Review Belong Mobile Review Circles.Life Review Vodafone Mobile Review Woolworths Mobile Review Felix Mobile Review Best iPhone Plans Best Family Mobile Plans Best Budget Smartphones Best Prepaid Plans Best SIM-Only Plans Best Plans For Kids And Teens Best Cheap Mobile Plans Telstra vs Optus Mobile Optus NBN Review Belong NBN Review Vodafone NBN Review Superloop NBN Review Aussie BB NBN Review iiNet NBN Review MyRepublic NBN Review TPG NBN Review Best NBN Satellite Plans Best NBN Alternatives Best NBN Providers Best Home Wireless Plans What is a Good NBN Speed? Test NBN Speed How to speed up your internet Optus vs Telstra Broadband ExpressVPN Review CyberGhost VPN Review NordVPN Review PureVPN Review Norton Secure VPN Review IPVanish VPN Review Windscribe VPN Review Hotspot Shield VPN Review Best cheap VPN services Best VPN for streaming Best VPNs for gaming What is a VPN? VPNs for ad-blocking Spectrum is grouped in bands - 850Mhz or 2100Mhz - with different frequencies being better suited for different tasks. The higher the frequency, the faster the connection, but the smaller the coverage. The amount of spectrum available to use is determined by the physics of radio waves. Telcos buy access to “lots” of spectrum, which are then used to build networks. Once a band is full, no more can be added. Because of this physical limitation, telcos have to work out how to best use their spectrum holdings. If a provider gets rid of their 3G coverage on a certain band, it can use it for faster, more efficient 4G or 5G coverage. Think of spectrum like a farm. You can change how you use your land, but you can’t plant outside your property. Telstra has confirmed it will offer 3G services until June 2024. Similarly, Vodafone has said it will phase out 3G by the middle of 2024, but hasn’t offered a concrete date. Optus is the only telco that hasn’t provided an indication of how long it will offer 3G coverage. Given 3G will still be around until 2024, there’s no rush to do this. Just make sure your next phone has 4G, but these days, it’s very hard to find one that doesn’t. There are some cases where the 3G shutdown could reduce coverage, but Telstra, for example, has committed to ensuring all 3G-only areas have 4G by the time it shutters its older network.