Older cellphones going dead in 2022. Are you prepared for 3G's end?

[marmar]

LANSING – As 3G cellphone networks disappear next year, people using older devices could be left without a lifeline.

Ingham County 911 Director Barb Davidson said people should prepare as carriers are eliminating 3G cell service in 2022, rendering older phones unable to make calls, even to 911. Davidson said people should start upgrading or updating their devices as it’s only a matter of months until 3G service ends.

“We’re very concerned that the safety net people think they have in place may no longer be there,” Davidson said.

Tracfones, flip phones, Jitterbugs and even older-style smartphones will no longer be able to make calls once the networks are taken down, Davidson said. Many people, especially senior citizens, have kept older model phones they are comfortable using, she said. ..........(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/2021/08/26/3-g-networks-phase-out-911-emergency-calls-what-to-do/5583777001/

[Kittycow]

1. Thanks for the valuable information!

I'm pretty sure my elderly parents phone will be going obsolete as it's old and only used for emergencies. Luckily my tech savvy brother will be traveling to see them in a few weeks so he can check!

[Dale in Laurel MD]

2. I had been told that my 3G phone would die in February.

Ten days ago I tried to use it and found that they had already shut my service down. I went to the local AT&T store (my service provider, and usually very good) where they told me that they couldn't restore the service but that I should have gotten a free 5G phone to replace it. The free phone hadn't arrived, and I needed to make an important call so I broke down and bought a 5G phone, which works but is much less user-friendly. My takeaway: 3G service may be shut down sooner than advertised.

I still haven't seen that free phone....

[Celerity]

17. An LTE (4G ) phone will work for at least 1 or 2 more decades, there was no need to leap to 5G unles

it was a free phone offer.

[Mosby]

21. Not to mention

There is very limited 5g service in the entire country.

People are spending 100s more in phones that use 4glte like the rest of us.

This jives with numbers from Opensignal, which found that on average T-Mobile users are connected to 5G around 30.1% of the time, compared to 18.8% for AT&T, and just 9.5% for Verizon.

https://gizmodo.com/the-state-of-5g-in-2021-are-we-there-yet-1846401219

[Dale in Laurel MD]

24. My old phone was a 3G. And they had killed it.

They did offer to let me talk to customer service to track where the free phone was, but knowing that my free replacement phone was in Saskatchewan wouldn't have helped with the call I needed to make right away.

And I still haven't seen the free phone....

[DURHAM D]

3. They made the same announcement two years ago abouat 2020.

Verizon forced many to get new phones. However, it did not happen.

[Glorfindel]

4. Well, crap. I love my flip-phone. It does exactly what I want it to.

I can call out and receive calls. That's all I want. No camera, no computer, no TV. Just a phone.
I may go back to a land line.

[CatWoman]

9. LOL!!!!

my nephew calls my brother (his dad) a dinosaur because he uses a flip phone

[Glorfindel]

15. I have the same problem. My nieces & nephews can't BELIEVE

I don't text. What a world.

[Politicub]

31. My dad's beloved flip phone died a couple of weeks ago.

The new flip phone (which was the only option from the carrier), is like a shitty smartphone bolted onto a flip-phone body. At least he can easily answer and make calls since there are physical buttons for those functions.

[hunter]

11. I have a 4G flip phone. It does have a camera.

It's a replacement for my previous flip phone that was so old it had an antenna you could extend, supposedly to improve your connection.

I like flip phones because I'm really good at accidentally shattering the screens of the other kind.

[dalton99a]

5. Kick

Here are tentative dates for carriers’ 3G shutdowns, according to the FCC:

T-Mobile: Jan. 1, 2022
AT&T: February 2022
Sprint LTE: June 30, 2022
Verizon: Dec. 31, 2022

The FCC said many smaller carriers, such as Boost, Cricket and Straight Talk, use those same networks and the 3G discontinuation would follow the providers’ schedule.

Carriers have largely reached out to their customers notifying them of the change, Davidson said. For people who have kept an older phone without a service plan for emergencies, they may not get a notification, she said.

[OnlinePoker]

6. I'm prepared for the end.

I've never owned a cell phone.

[Celerity]

20. Unless you had a legal guardian or someone you trusted with your life, you would be fooked in Sweden

So many things require a Mobile BankID for verification. There is no longer a desktop version, and that didn't work anyway if you were out of the house and had to identify on the run.

[Disaffected]

7. This is all news to me (in Canada).

I too have only a flip phone on a pay-as-U-go plan (which is all I need).

Are there any flip type phones available at all that do 5G??

[DURHAM D]

10. I actually have a flip that is 4G.

I don't know when 4G will phase out.

[Celerity]

14. You are fine for a long long time, at least one or 2 decades, likely.

[Disaffected]

18. I think my phone is 3G but

google tells me Telus will not be phasing out 3G until 2025 so I'm OK for a while.

[Ohio Joe]

12. Yes, there are...

But they are not cheap... Or exactly like the older flip phones. See here for one that I often see tech sites recommend:

https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-z-flip3-5g/buy/galaxy-z-flip3-5g-128gb-unlocked-sm-f711uzeaxaa/?cid=sem-mktg-pfs-mob-us-google-na-08092022-141320-&ds_e=GOOGLE-cr:0-pl:286556676-&ds_c=FF~5g+Phones+-+Upper+Funnel_CN~Generic_PH~teas_MK~usnat_BS~im_PR~smart_SB~can_PK~CPQL_FS~lo_CA~kew_MD~h_KS~gc_MT~phrase-&ds_ag=AG~Generic_MK~usnat_AT~ta_MD~h_AI~no-&ds_k=5g+phone&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8JKvzIbP8gIVRnxvBB1C2AbWEAAYASAAEgJ0nvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'm not a huge Samsung fan, I find their stuff to be hit-or-miss when it comes to quality... I've been burned more than once with their stuff but this one does seem to be liked.

[Celerity]

13. You don't need a 5G device, LTE (4G) is still going to work for ages

A basic LTE phone is dirt cheap. A Nokia 225 (4G LTE and unlocked) is around 25 to 50 USD new.

[JudyM]

8. K&R

[Gidney N Cloyd]

16. My 8 YO Hyundai has a 'Bluelink' connection (kinda like OnStar) that uses 2G.

They've been threatening termination of 2G coverage for a year now but even they don't seem to know when it will really happen. They did go from selling 1-year subscriptions to a monthly charge, though. I haven't seen any mention of 3G but I suppose it's possible they skipped it and jumped right to 4G.

What I fail to understand is why they can't just install an updated whateveritis module in my car, even at my expense, to keep people connected.

[Raine]

19. AT&T send me a new phone about a month ago to replace

the one that won't work any more. I guess they want to keep their customers so sending a new phone for free is worth it to them.

[Johonny]

22. I got my 5 G chip when I was vaxed so I'm good.

[Retired Engineer Bob]

23. I used to deal with this issue professionally

Many of our clients use automatic alarm dialers for their remote sites. Some of these systems are quite elaborate, with a client accessible central website monitoring 50 or more locations . When an alarm occurs, the system will text and or email on call staff.

Each remote site has an monitoring system box which includes a cellular modem. Most if not all of my clients have already upgraded the modem cards to 4G. Some were unhappy about upgrade costs, but I explained the systems are reliant on cellular infrastructure and we must deal with what is available. With enough forewarning they were able to work these costs into their overall budgets.

[Wounded Bear]

25. K & R...for visibility...

just bought a new phone with my Biden Bucks. Checked my carrier and they say my current model is good for now. It is a 4G LTE capable model.

[FakeNoose]

26. It's the favorite theme song of American business

"Planned obsolescence."

That's how they keep us buying new stuff all the time, because the old stuff doesn't work any more. Ka-ching!

[fescuerescue]

29. Unfortunately, the frequency spectrum is limited by physics

I hate planned obsolescence as well.

But I order for mobile technology to advance, we have no choice to but to shutdown the older stuff.

If we didn't, we would still be stuck on the in the 1970s with mobile technology.

[hunter]

33. This is mostly about technological progress and the explosive growth of the cell phone industry.

The older cell phone systems simply couldn't cope with the increasing number of users and their increasing data demands.

Many of the earliest cell phone radio bands have been reassigned to emergency services.

Many 3G bands will be reassigned to higher capacity 5G services.

My own cell phone provider paid me $35 to swap my old 3G phone for my current 4G flip phone, and it's a better phone. It has a camera!

The only Ka-ching! my cell phone provider got was keeping me as a customer as they gradually abandoned their 3G service.

I didn't spend any extra time hating my new phone. I pretty much hate all phones. It's a wonder I haven't thrown more of them into the ocean.

[LiberatedUSA]

27. A lot of older people out there that use flip phones.

They don’t know how to use a smartphone and won’t want to use all the features anyway. They just want a phone to carry with them for talking only.

[fescuerescue]

28. Hard to believe that it's a dead technology now

I remember when it was the bee knees compared to EDGE.

Of course EDGE was fantastic over GSM. And GSM was fantastic over CDMA which replaced Analog cellular. Which replaced RCC. Which replaced IMTS. Which replaced MTS.

These sort of laminations happen every few years.

But the frequency spectrum is limited by physics. It's not possible to support all the older protocols forever.

If we didn't phase out the old stuff. we wouldn't even have internet in our pockets right now.

[Mr.Bill]

30. The people at the Verizon store

tell me my 15 year old phone will not work after January first. They have been telling me that for five years.

[Ron Obvious]

32. T-Mobile have been threatening to cut this off for years

So my G1 will finally stop working when it happens. Shame, it does all I need and nothing I don't want it to, running Cyanogenmod as it does.

I've already bought a cheap 4G phone (Moto e6), but I really utterly detest stock Android and haven't found a LineageOS (the successor to Cyanogenmod) distro for it yet. For now the G1 is much preferred for its clean interface.

I wonder what will happen to my security system though. As far as I know it's either 2g or 3g.

[highplainsdem]

34. Consumer Cellular still sells a basic flip phone for $35. It's 4G LTE.

They have inexpensive plans. They use both AT&T's and T-Mobile's networks, and you can tell them which one you want.

https://www.consumercellular.com/shopping/details/link_II/