Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2022 March 27

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March 27

3G shutdown and tiny phones

All of the 3G networks are shutting down soon.[1][2]

There are tiny phones that (as far as I can tell) use GSM for voice[3][4] They claim to support 4G but the actual specs only talk about GSM.

Will the 3G shutdown also shut down GSM? Or is this just a smartphone/data thing that doesn't affect simple voice-only phones? 22:28, 27 March 2022 (UTC)2600:1700:D0A0:21B0:C43A:7A9A:3A68:225A (talk)

Your statement is not correct. The FCC doesn't regulate things outside the US. According to 3G and [5], several Canadian networks aren't due to shutdown their 3G service until 2025 which doesn't seem "soon" to me. Actually quite a few have the end of 2025, I didn't explore the sources so I'm not sure if this is some agreement, an overenthuastic editor or even simply an agreed final date (which may mean it could be sooner). The UK has a maximum date from government policy a decade away and while I'm fairly sure probably all will have shutdown before then, this means either no date has been announced yet or no one has updated the article. Nothing is given for NZ which isn't surprising since AFAIK no network has announced any specific plans.

As for the rest, if the phone does not support VoLTE (well or VoWiFi with access to WiFi) then it needs to have access to a 2G or 3G network to be able to make voice calls over the carriers voice network. If the phone says it's GSM, then it will need to have access to a GSM derived 2G or 3G network over whatever bands it supports. Our article suggests 2G networks are probably being shutdown at a similar time as 3G in US or have already been shutdown but I'm not sure if it's complete. In a number of countries 2G networks have already been shutdown or are being kept open for (IoT) data online.

If both 2G and 3G networks have been shutdown and the phone does not support VoLTE (or VoWiFi), then it will not work over the carriers voice network. (It may still be able to make voice calls over any data network it has access to via some VoIP or other service e.g. Telegram, WhatsApp, Skype, Discord, Google Chat without that.) Even if it supports VoLTE, the appropriate bands and has access to a 4G network with VoLTE support, it may still not work on some 4G networks since VoLTE profiles still seem to be an utter mess.

See Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2022 February 15#Future of GSM for more.

Nil Einne (talk) 01:19, 28 March 2022 (UTC)

P.S. Both the above links make it clear that those devices require 2G. The shutdown of 3G is irrelevant since they aren't capable of using 3G, what matters is the 2G shutdown. There's no suggestion either support 4G. (One does mention you can use a 4G SIM card, whatever they mean by that, but makes it clear the network needs to provide 2G.) Nil Einne (talk) 01:30, 28 March 2022 (UTC)