T-Mobile will apparently require phones on its network to support voice over LTE (VoLTE) beginning in January 2021. That indicates if your phone does not currently support VoLTE, youll need to update if you desire to have the ability to keep making calls with that phone on T-Mobile. And T-Mobile is apparently so intention on phasing out older technologies that itll reportedly stop activating new gadgets that do not support VoLTE on August 4th, which is simply a couple weeks away.
Keep in mind when AT&T informed customers their phones would stop working and encouraged them to purchase brand-new ones throughout a pandemic? T-Mobile is supposedly going to be sending out some messages like that too, however it appears like the company might be tackling it a little differently (and hopefully less aggressively) than AT&T, according to an evident internal document from T-Mobile shared by Android Authorities.
Heres the file Android Police shared, if you d like to look for yourself:
Image: Android Police
When we asked, T-Mobile didnt validate the timeline laid out in the document, but did share some information that line up:
What AT&T ignored to make clear, though, is that those clients will not actually require to upgrade their phone up until early 2022– thats when AT&T prepares to shut down its 3G network and when some gadgets will actually stop working. Lets hope T-Mobile is clearer about what customers require to do and when they require to do it.
When it comes time for T-Mobile to inform some consumers that they need to update, hopefully the business learns from AT&Ts mistakes. Yesterday, AT&T terrified some consumers by sending them an email with the big, blue, vibrant, all-caps heading “UPDATE NEEDED,” notifying them that their phone is “not suitable with the brand-new network,” and that theyll need to change it to keep getting service. (Some consumers felt the e-mail was so egregious that they thought it was a fraud.).
Generally, what T-Mobile appears to be saying is that unless you havent updated your phone for an extremely long time, you probably wont encounter problems as soon as VoLTE is required.
When it comes time for T-Mobile to inform some clients that they need to upgrade, hopefully the company discovers from AT&Ts mistakes.
That implies if your phone does not currently support VoLTE, youll need to upgrade if you desire to be able to keep making calls with that phone on T-Mobile. In preparation for that and to provide customers the best experience, those triggering new lines at T-Mobile will need a VoLTE capable device, which is all weve used for years now and represents the overwhelming majority of devices on the network.
Verizon is likewise in the process of closing down its 3G network, and said in 2015 it would be delaying that shutdown to the end of 2020. As of 2018, it no longer triggers phones that do not support LTE.
[…] we will be phasing out some older innovations gradually to maximize even more capacity for LTE and 5G. In preparation for that and to give clients the very best experience, those activating new lines at T-Mobile will need a VoLTE capable gadget, which is all weve provided for many years now and represents the overwhelming majority of gadgets on the network.
