The high cost of maintaining legacy networks is putting significant financial and operational pressure on service providers, according to new research by TXO.
Despite this, most operators predict that ageing infrastructure - including copper, 2G, and 3G - will remain in service for the foreseeable future, the survey found.
Despite positive modernisation efforts from across the industry, 79 per cent of operators surveyed say their copper networks will be operational until at least 2028, while more than one quarter (28 per cent) expect them to last until 2030 or beyond. Similarly, 43 per cent of service providers report that 2G networks will not be fully phased out until 2030, with nearly one fifth (19 per cent) predicting decommissioning efforts will continue beyond that date.
Eighty one per cent of respondents said that these legacy networks are hindering their ability to roll out new services, limiting their competitiveness against greenfield operators.
"Operators are caught in a challenging cycle where legacy networks are becoming increasingly costly to maintain, yet full decommissioning is still years away," said John Teasdale, group chief network officer at TXO. "The continued reliance on copper and legacy mobile networks is a major hurdle to new network innovations in 5G and fibre, hindering competitiveness and sustainability."
With 98 per cent of network decision-makers reporting that maintaining ageing infrastructure has increased overall operational costs, the financial burden of managing legacy infrastructure is a growing concern. Operational resilience is also at risk. The study found that major outages caused by legacy networks, resulting in downtime, cost businesses an average of around £1.1 million per year.
"Outages on legacy infrastructure are more frequent and disruptive than ever," said Teasdale. "Older networks were not built to handle today’s demands, making them prone to failure, and for many large service providers, the maintenance costs will have surged by 30-40 per cent over the past year alone. The combination of escalating costs, downtime, and energy inefficiency makes the case for decommissioning legacy network technology stronger than ever."
Despite mounting challenges, telcos remain cautious about large-scale decommissioning, with three-quarters of respondents saying that they have delayed phasing out older networks. Fifty three per cent of respondents say that they have delayed decommissioning due to labour shortages.
Yet, many operators are embracing circular economy initiatives as a solution. Eighty five per cent have plans to resell copper infrastructure as part of a circular economy strategy, with 80 per cent having similar plans for 2G and 3G equipment.
Simon Wort, CEO at TXO, said, "Decommissioning legacy networks is a complex challenge for telcos, often constrained by labour shortages and operational risks. With the right expertise and infrastructure, operators can recover value from retired equipment while accelerating their sustainability goals. By reselling, recycling, and reusing network assets, the industry is taking a crucial step toward a more circular economy - one that reduces waste, lowers costs, and builds a greener, more resilient technology sector."