(The latter carrier also has information for former Sprint customers.) Customers of the respective carriers can find information pages from AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. With more than 195 million customers at the end of September, that would translate to around 5 million people.īecause carriers have known about this transition for a while, they've likely been in contact with customers whose phones will stop connecting to 3G at some point in 2022. Menezes cited a figure from AT&T back in September where the carrier said that 2.7% of its customers would be impacted by the 3G shutdown. Still, while the number of phones affected isn't large, it's not an insignificant figure. That's three years ago, giving people plenty of time to upgrade to more modern equipment capable of connecting to LTE networks. The key is to have a handset that supports voice over LTE, which would certainly cover any recently released phone as this has been the standard for a while.Īs an example, Leigh notes that Verizon stopped certifying 3G devices in 2018. Most phones released in the past few years will work just fine after 3G networks go away. What phones will be affected by the 3G shutdown? That's been an area where 5G has fallen short, so carriers are likely to use that freed-up 3G spectrum to improve the reach of their growing 5G networks. That's particularly valuable real estate, as that spectrum can travel greater distances than high-band spectrum and have an easily time penetrating buildings. "They need that spectrum they're using for 3G for more advanced services, for 4G and 5G," agreed Bill Menezes, a director analyst at market research firm Gartner.ģG uses low- and mid-band spectrum to keep devices connected. If carriers no longer have to support their aging 3G networks, they can then reallocate that spectrum to other forms of connectivity. In other words, 3G connectivity uses parts of the wireless spectrum. "There are efficiencies to be gained by not running three different networks," said Jason Leigh, research manager for mobility at IDC. Throw in 3G, and that's a lot of different networks to keep up and running. Commercial 4G networks first went live in 2009, and 5G followed a decade later. There are a couple reasons why carriers are ready to pull the plug on 3G, and the first comes down to progress. There are efficiencies to be gained by not running three different networks. Why are carriers shutting down their 5G networks? So if you're a customer of Cricket Wireless, you won't be able to access AT&T's 3G network after it shuts down in February. MVNOs, which turn to the networks of larger carriers to provide their wireless coverage, will lose access to 3G once the parent network shuts it down. Keep in mind this doesn't just affect customers of those specific carriers. Verizon has pushed back its 3G shutdown date before, but as of December 31, 2022, the carrier claims its 3G coverage will be no more.
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