3G has been around for more than two decades, and it powered a generation of mobile devices. A lot of people’s first devices ran on 3G towers. While the technology is really long in the tooth now, there are still a lot of people who use 3G devices.
T-Mobile will shut down its 3G towers gradually
Those people who are on those 3G devices now have a time limit to switch up. The timer is set to 60 days, according to the reports. T-Mobile told The Verge that it’s beginning the shut-down process today, and it will take place over the next two months. So, rather than an immediate flip of the switch, it’s going to be a slow process. If you’re wondering why the company is doing this, you have to take into account that there are more people using 3G than you might think. A report in January showed that, at the time, around 3.2 million people still used 3G phones across the three major carriers. This should equate to hundreds of thousands of T-Mobile customers still using the older technology. T-Mobile wants to make this a gradual process so as not to leave people without connectivity. AT&T recently axed its 3G service, but it gave its customers ample notice beforehand. Also, the company actually worked with its customers to upgrade them to 4G or 5G phones (some at no extra charge). There’s no doubt that T-Mobile is going to do something similar. We should expect to see some added promotions advertising new and inexpensive 5G phones. The new iPhone SE is one of the cheapest and most popular 5G-enabled devices out there. So, the company might push those and other devices to its 3G customers.
When will the process be finished?
Starting today, T-Mobile is starting to shut down its 3G network. If you’re on a 3G device now, you’ll have until May 31st to upgrade. That should give you a good amount of time to switch up. It’s understandable when people can’t just upgrade at a moment’s notice. Financial troubles hit, and upgrading to a more expensive phone with a more expensive plan isn’t always the best choice. Even though there’s going to be a lot of time for people to switch up, there are still going to be people left in the dark, unfortunately.
