All major US 3G networks are scheduled to shut down this year, which could affect your phone, your home alarm system, or even your car. The FCC has an official page listing shutdown time frames by carrier, but most carriers say they will contact you by phone or postcard if the shutdown will affect you.
About 9% of wireless connections remaining in the US are 2G or 3G, including phones, tablets, home alarm systems, medical alert devices, cars, and other machinery. Most smartphones that launched after 2014, and flip phones that launched after 2017, should continue to work without failure. However, gray-market devices that weren’t designed for US network will be getting cut off and may suddenly stop working. If your phone doesn’t say “4G LTE” or “5G” in its status bar when Wi-Fi is off, there is a good chance it is a 3G phone and may longer work. The shutdown will also affect other devices – like older Kindle ebook readers and some smartwatches will become Wi-Fi only. The situation will be more complicated when it comes to the home alarm system industry as well as car features like remote start, remote location, integrated navigation, and other services.
The shutdown is coming for many reasons, especially that 3G networks are old and computing power is much less efficient than 4G or 5G. To learn more about the shutdown, if it will affect you, and how you can prepare, visit here for more details.
