We won’t say we’re surprised. We’re not. We’re actually just waiting for this thing to happen–3G connectivity being obsolete. Well, we know it’s not happening anytime soon in other countries where people rely on 3G and 4G interchangeably. In the United States, specifically, for Verizon subscribers, please note the company is shutting down the 3G CDMA Network soon. By soon we mean until December 31, 2022 only. That is less than two years of 3G goodness for those who still connect to 3G.
Back in December 2014, we already said 3G was dying. It was because Verizon was really pushing for LTE. More than five years later, Verizon is now pushing for 5G expansion. It’s happening at a faster rate and to more cities. The only problem now is there aren’t really many 5G phones available and affordable.
The 5G phone market has just started. It’s better compared to two years ago when we can count with our fingers the 5G devices we knew. Verizon just wants to make things official and wants to remind the people, maybe it’s time to buy a 4G LTE or 5G phone.
Verizon says 5G us THE platform for 21st century innovation. 3G CDMA use has been declining since 2016. Verizon started to decommission the network actively. The supposed 2019 shutdown didn’t happened. It didn’t happen again in 2020 and Verizon is making an extension up to 2022.
Verizon believes it may not be easy for everyone but it’s committed to minimizing disruptions as they transition to more advanced devices and technologies. The shutdown may even happen earlier since about 99% of Verizon customers now use 4G LTE or 5G.
We have no idea how many subscribers are the remaining one percent. Verizon said it will no longer allow phones that are not 4G LTE capable to be activated on its network. Those with 3G should transition to 4G or 5G. People are encouraged to upgrade to more advanced technologies and devices because there may be degradation of service in the near future.
The 3G CDMA network will shut down on December 31, 2022. Other carriers may do the same but even earlier. Verizon said no more extension will be made.
