All phones that are not compatible with at least 4G coverage will be obsolete in 2015

[Chewbaccer]

I got an e-mail from AT&T last week that said by January 1, 2015 that said if your phone isn't 4G or better then it will no longer work as all 3G signals will be discontinued or something like that.

Has anyone else heard something about this? Did I fall for spam?

I'm not a big tech guy. I have a flip phone that doesn't even have a camera much less internet access, and I don't know how many gs my phone is capable of.

Seems to me like they are trying to force everyone into getting a smart phone.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Don't know, but wouldn't be surprised if true. I'm still using a 3G android that's almost 3 years old, and the other day all my contacts just disappeared. Don't know if that's related or not, probably just means I have a crappy smartphone...but there are a lot of other problems I've had with this thing that are for sure related to the slower speed.

The annoying thing is that the carriers don't give you a free upgrade anymore. The blasted things are too expensive now.

 

[fordman84]

So does that mean they will upgrade everyone, even the unlimited plans, to a 4G network?

 

[WizardHawk]

I doubt they are actually killing the 3G network. They still have the 2G network ffs and their coverage of 4G isn't nearly large enough to justify killing the lower ones. They get away with showing those larger coverage maps by filling it in with those older, cheaper, and wider coverage lower tier speeds.

Dropping 3G coverage would wipe out a huge chunk of their 'coverage' maps. No way that's happening.

 

[4down20]

I use an iphone3(that's the very first iphone) and I don't think it's even 3g.

It still works.

 

[FishnChipsnFootball]

All cell phones will be running off of Voice Over LTE (VOLTE) by the end of the year. Old school phones won't be able to run off the old platform.

There are cheap plans out there. Anyone without a smart phone is missing the revolution.

 

[fordman84]

I doubt they are actually killing the 3G network. They still have the 2G network ffs and their coverage of 4G isn't nearly large enough to justify killing the lower ones. They get away with showing those larger coverage maps by filling it in with those older, cheaper, and wider coverage lower tier speeds.

Dropping 3G coverage would wipe out a huge chunk of their 'coverage' maps. No way that's happening.

is 2G their EDGE network? At my parents place I'm lucky if I can even get EDGE, but they are planning on killing even that? If so they will lose a lot of customers who find themselves without coverage.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

T-Mobile coverage already sucks, no matter what network you're using. I can't imagine it getting any worse.