VODAFONE TO RETIRE 3G NETWORK IN 2023

Telecommunications giant Vodafone has announced the retirement of its 3G mobile data network next year.

The Newbury-based company says it will use the freed-up spectrum to expand its 4G and 5G networks.

The company has 18 million customers in the UK – and it reckons that between two and three million people across all network providers are still using an older handset that is not capable of connecting to the newer 4G or 5G networks.

Vodafone said that just four per cent of the data used on its network now travels via 3G, compared with 30 per cent in 2016.

Vodafone’s

UK CEO, Ahmed Essam, said:

“We’re building the UK’s most reliable mobile network, and focusing on the technologies that best connect our customers and have the least impact on the environment. 3G has connected so many customers over the last 17 years, but the future is 4G and 5G.

3G came to the UK in 2003 with Hutchinson’s Three. Vodafone launched its own 3G service 18 months later in 2004.

4G arrived in 2021, with EE rolling the service out to 11 cities, including Bristol. But the faster network is still unavailable in some rural areas.

5G arrived in May 2019 with EE and Vodafone at the vanguard and is still being rolled out. The network is limited to users in urban areas on the latest handsets.

Part-time hires double after Zurich launches flexible working initiative

Demand for part-time jobs at Swindonheadquartered insurance giant Zurich have doubled since the company launched a new flexible work programme two years ago.

Demand from women for part-time roles has been especially high – up 83 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels.

But despite the initiative being genderneutral, uptake from men has remained at just two per cent.

And as companies struggle to attract talent in a competitive market, Zurich revealed applications have increased by 66 per cent since the initiative was introduced in spring 2019.

It was in March of that year that Zurich introduced a first-of-its-kind initiative to advertise all new vacancies as a potential part-time, job share or full-time opportunity – alongside flexible working.

This was coupled with the use of gender-neutral language in every job advertisement.

Over the past 12 months alone, nearly one in four new female hires has been appointed on a part-time basis, up from just 10 per cent in 2019.

Nationally, half of the UK’s workforce works flexibly in some form, with parttime working the most popular option for over 27 per cent.

Reading has proven to be one of the country’s best economic performing areas over the course of the pandemic, and its GVA has already increased by four per cent relative to its 2019 size – the biggest increase for any area in the country, according to new research published by professional services provider EY.

EY’s Regional Economic Forecast says the South East will be the second-fastestgrowing region over the next three years, with its Gross Value Added set to expand 2.9 per cent per year between now and 2025 – ahead of the UK average of 2.8 per cent growth and behind only London’s 3.1 per cent growth.

Employment in the region is forecast to rise 1.1 per cent per year to 2025, while the South East is one of just four regions in the country expected to see its working-age population grow over the same period.

Despite Reading’s strong performance, the rest of the region experienced an above-average economic contraction over the first two years of the pandemic.

The South East’s GVA recovered to 96.9 per cent of its 2019 size by the end of 2021, below the national average of 97 per cent and above only London (96.4 per cent), the North West (96.1 per cent) and West Midlands (94.5 per cent).

Richard Baker, managing partner at EY in the South East, said: “The South East’s mix of sectors has meant the region, like many others, has seen some considerable challenges due to Covid-19.

“Post-pandemic, there are positive signs of recovery, which will be driven by a bounce back in key regional sectors.”

Only two regions – the East Midlands and South West – are forecast to gain economic ground on London by 2025, with the capital on course to overtake again in the years afterwards.