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France switches off 2G. Here is what visitors should check.
Orange ends its 2G network across mainland France on 20 October, and SFR and Bouygues Telecom follow by mid-December. Your mobile data is not affected; an old 2G-only phone is.
Orange switches off the last of its 2G network in mainland France on 20 October 2026. Mobile data on 4G and 5G is not affected. Phones that only speak 2G lose service on Orange's network.
The switch-off has run in waves since 31 March 2026, when it started in Bayonne, Anglet and Biarritz. Nice followed on 22 September and 44 departments on 6 October. The last 43, including Paris, the Rhône, Gironde, Nord and Haute-Savoie, go on 20 October. Free has no 2G network of its own and follows Orange's calendar. Orange's only exception is a list of regulatory white zones, where its 2G ends between 1 and 15 December.
The other two networks keep 2G a few weeks longer. Arcep, the French telecoms regulator, lists SFR's switch-off for 15 November 2026. Bouygues Telecom starts the same day in Brest, Guipavas, Nancy and Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, then covers the rest of mainland France between 1 and 15 December. Once those dates pass, no network in mainland France carries 2G. 3G stays on for now: until 2028 on Orange, the end of 2028 on SFR and the end of 2029 on Bouygues Telecom.
The 4G network is already in place: Arcep says more than 99.8% of the mast sites that carry 2G and 3G also carry 4G. What changes is which phones can use them. An old 2G-only button phone kept as a backup will show no service on Orange from 20 October, and on every French network by mid-December.
Calls are the part to check. A phone can use 4G for data and still drop to an older network to make a call, unless it supports calls over 4G (VoLTE). Arcep advises checking both, and notes that some phones get VoLTE through a software update. Orange tells its own customers that a 4G phone without VoLTE has until the end of 2028, when its 3G closes. Neither Orange nor Arcep says how this applies to a phone roaming from abroad, so ask your home carrier whether 4G calling works for you in France.
Mobile data is the easy part. Every SimFuse France plan is data only and runs on 4G/LTE or 5G, so the 2G switch-off does not touch it. Your home SIM stays in the phone for calls and texts, and your WhatsApp number stays the same. Install the eSIM over Wi-Fi before you leave and it connects when you land.
More than 99.8% of French 2G and 3G mast sites already carry 4G, and 4G covers more than 99.9% of the mainland population (Arcep, September 2026).
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