Mobile communications services provider Telia said Monday that it has commenced switching off 3G in Lääne County, which will take a week or two to finish.

Telia CTO Andre Visse said that the process started in Lääne County because it has relatively few 2G/3G network services users compared to other counties, with most Telia customers relying on its 4G network by now.

"This means that most of our customers in Lääne County already have VoLTE phones, which can be used to make calls in 4G networks."

Telia has sent users that do not have VoLTE supported devices a personal SMS message, notifying them of the network closure. The ISP recommends its customers switch to 4G enabled devices.

"If you have been notified of the [3G] network closure, we urge you to consider switching to a newer device. If you have not received a corresponding message from Telia, you have nothing to worry about," Visse said.

The CTO said that there are virtually no devices that will be rendered useless after the company shuts down its 3G network. Phones that can use both 2G and 3G networks will continue to operate in Telia's 2G network. This means that they can still be used to place and receive calls and short messages.

Here is Telia's schedule for 3G network closures:

• Lääne County, starting from February 28
• Pärnu and Rapla counties from March 31
• Harju County from April 30
• Tallinn from May 31
• Ida-Viru, Lääne-Viru, Hiiu and Saare counties from September 30
• Viljandi, Jõgeva and Järva counties from October 31
• Tartu, Valga, Põlva and Võru counties from November 30

Competitors Tele2 and Elisa plan to shut down their 3G networks in the coming years.

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