The era of third-generation mobile connectivity is reaching its final chapter in China’s tech-heavy eastern provinces. As of June 15, 2026, China Unicom’s Zhejiang branch has officially terminated its 3G network services, rendering legacy handsets and older SIM cards incapable of basic voice and data functions. This transition is not an isolated local event but a critical step in a nationwide strategy to reallocate spectrum for more efficient 4G, 5G, and eventually 6G technologies.
The decommissioning of legacy networks is guided by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) under the 14th Five-Year Plan. By phasing out 2G and 3G infrastructure, the state aims to streamline network management and reduce the significant energy and maintenance costs associated with supporting aging equipment. China Mobile is expected to complete its own 2G sunset by the end of 2025, effectively ending the era of basic cellular standards to make way for a fully digitized infrastructure.
While legacy systems fade, 5G adoption has reached a staggering scale. Combined data from China’s three state-owned telcos—China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom—shows that the 5G user base has surged past the 1.2 billion mark. China Unicom leads in market penetration, with over 80% of its subscribers now using 5G services. This rapid migration is supported by a massive domestic fiber-optic network that now spans nearly 75 million kilometers, facilitating a '5G in every village' policy that has largely bridged the urban-rural digital divide.
However, the aggressive push toward the future is not without friction. Regulatory authorities have had to balance the need for technological advancement with the protection of legacy users, particularly the elderly who may still rely on 2G or 3G 'feature phones.' Despite these social hurdles, the momentum is firmly directed toward the 2030 commercialization of 6G. With the industry projected to become a trillion-yuan market by 2035, the silence of 3G frequencies in Zhejiang is simply the sound of the digital economy shifting into a higher gear.