[Update: New UMTS Date] Internal Documentation Confirms Sprint LTE, 3G Shutdown Dates
Update 9/16: T-Mobile has published an official network retirement page on their website. The dates for the Sprint shutdowns remain the same, however the 3G UMTS network (T-Mobile’s original 3G) has moved from October of this year to July 1st of 2022.
This lines up more with info from a trusted source all the way back in February, though that report said the date would be in April. It’s safe to say network shutdowns are a big undertaking, and dates internally shifted quite a lot. Now that the date is officially public, hopefully it won’t change again.
It also states that there is currently no date set for their 2G shutdown, likely due to the numerous IoT devices that use it.
Original article below.
The time will soon come for Sprint to finally die.
According to some internal screenshots acquired by us here at The T-Mo Report, T-Mobile will be shutting down the Sprint LTE network on June 30th 2022. The documentation also confirms the previously shared Sprint 3G CDMA shutdown of January 1st, 2022.
It also reconfirmed previous news that T-Mobile will shutdown it’s own 3G UMTS in October 2021, which is 2-3 months sooner than Sprint’s 3G, and it’s 2G GSM in December of 2022. A source back in February stated that the 3G UMTS shutdown was likely delayed to April 2022, but there’s no sign of that updated timetable in these documents. It’s possible these dates could change again given how they already have a few times, or that these documents are outdated and need updating.
These documents are internal for employees to view. Essentially they’re a guide to inform customers that may be inquiring about the future of their legacy Sprint connections. Letters were sent out to affected individual customers, as previously shared on Reddit, informing them of the pending Sprint LTE shutdown.
“Now that Sprint is T-Mobile, we’re combining Sprint’s assets with T-Mobile’s to deliver a transformative 5G network experience from big cities to small towns and everywhere in between, and we are moving quickly to build our most advanced network ever for our customers. To accomplish this, we will retire the Sprint CDMA and LTE networks to free up spectrum that will help us strengthen our entire network and move all customers to more advanced technologies like 4G & 5G.”
Also shared was information stating that back on July 7th T-Mobile began sending out network updates that force enabled VoLTE on Sprint devices, even if it had been manually disabled.
All of this network terminology can get confusing. Here’s a simple list of shutdown dates:
T-Mobile Network Shutdowns
3G/UMTS: October 2021 July 1st, 2022
2G GSM: December 2022
Legacy Sprint Network Shutdowns
2G/3G CDMA: January 1st 2022
LTE/5G: June 30th 2022
If you’re still hanging on to that legacy Sprint connection, it may be time to consider your options. You can switch to a T-Mobile SIM on eligible devices by buying a SIM here, or by visiting any T-Mobile store.
