T-Mobile's 3G network will be shut down on July 1 next year

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Although major network operators are vigorously promoting the commercial use of 5G networks, the promotion work is not as fast and easy as they imagined. In addition to the COVID-19 epidemic, wireless operators' plans to retire old networks to free up resources have also been hindered and delayed. Operator T-Mobile has finally determined the shutdown time of its 3G network, including Sprint's 3G and LTE networks.

After many adjustments, T-Mobile finally finalized the time to shut down its 3G network. In the latest "Network Evolution" page, it shows that its 3G UMTS network will be shut down on July 1, 2022. This gives customers and partners enough time to prepare and upgrade to supported 4G/5G networks.

T-Mobile is also preparing for the retirement date of the Sprint network. Sprint's 3G will be retired on January 1, 2022, while its 4G LTE network will cease operations on June 30, 2022. The latter is part of T-Mobile's strategy to move everyone to the one T-Mobile network, and affected Sprint customers will only need to swap their Sprint SIM cards for T-Mobile's.

T-Mobile has pledged to support customers and partners during the transition, but it hasn't publicly committed to how. It may follow AT&T's surprise move and offer free 4G phones to those who will be affected by the shutdown of its 3G network. Replacing 3G phones with compatible models may not be that difficult, but owners and operators of IoT devices may have to do more work to migrate to a more future-proof system.