It's the end of an era for Verizon customers as the company announced that its 3G CDMA network will be officially shutting down on January 1, 2023. This means that older phones that rely on the 3G network will no longer be able to make calls or access data.
Verizon is not the only US operator to make this change. AT&T has already gone through the process of shutting down its 3G network, and Bell has announced the closing date of its traditional network and issued a reminder letter to business customers.
The decision to shut down the 3G network has not been taken lightly by Verizon. In fact, the company had initially announced that the shutdown would occur in 2019, but the date was pushed back to the end of 2020 and now to the end of 2022 in order to minimize disruption for customers as they transition to newer technologies.
According to Mike Haberman, vice president of network engineering at Verizon, the company has been working to accelerate the retirement of its 3G CDMA network since 2016. "We have made every effort to minimize disruption to our customers' services as they move to newer and more advanced technologies," Haberman stated.
Verizon has announced that its 3G CDMA network will be shut down on January 1, 2023, leaving those with older phones unable to make calls or access data. According to Verizon, 99% of their 120.88 million subscribers are now using 4G or 5G networks, with less than 1% still relying on 3G.
If you are a Verizon customer using a 3G (CDMA) or 4G (non-VoLTE) device that does not support HD Voice service, your device will no longer be able to make or receive calls, send or receive text messages, or use data service. While some device functionality may still work, you will not be able to access the network unless you upgrade to a newer device.
While many US operators are shutting down their 3G and traditional networks in favor of newer 4G and 5G technologies, T-Mobile is still remaining silent on when their "legacy" 2G GSM network will be decommissioned. T-Mobile's support page currently only states that "the date has not been set" and their 2G network is still operational.
It's important to note that not all operators will be shutting down their traditional network services. T-Mobile customers who are still using older 2G devices should keep an eye out for updates on when the 2G network will be shut down, or consider upgrading to a newer device that is compatible with the 4G and 5G networks.
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