China Mobile Hong Kong received approval from the Communications Authority to shut down its tiny 3G service on 30 June, the first of four major operators to make the move.

The agency noted the operator has made “reasonable service termination arrangements” and provided subscribers with sufficient advance notification and customer service support.

Its 3G user base accounted for just 0.25 per cent of its 8.4 million mobile subscribers in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Business reported.

Customers on 5G plans accounted for nearly 48 per cent of China Mobile Hong Kong’s total mobile connections.

At end-March, CSL had 121,000 3G connections, 3 Hong Kong about 40,600 and SmarTone less than 4,000, data from GSMA Intelligence showed.