Looking at subscriber counts, of the three major mobile carriers in the United States, T-Mobile is the smallest — but don’t confuse that with being small, as they have nearly 100 million active subscribers.
Despite being the smallest, T-Mobile is the only carrier among the US Big Three to have held onto its 2G network for so long, but all good things must come to an end. It seems like the company might be preparing to put its 2G networks to sleep starting next month. That means if you’re still using an older 2G phone, it’s time to upgrade.
T-Mobile Looks Set To Shut Down Its 2G Networks Starting From September
T-Mobile introduced its first 3G phone back in late 2007, but it wasn’t until mid-2008 that its 3G networks became operational. Of course, 2G could still thrive in a time like that, but that was the start of the process of it being phased out. After that, 4G came, and then 5G, so it has been nearly 20 years since 2G was first deemed “yesterday’s news”.
It’s for that exact reason that it shouldn’t be too upsetting that T-Mobile finally seems ready to put its 2G network to bed for good. There’s no point wasting the resources required to keep such an ancient part of its infrastructure up when most people have moved onto newer and much faster things.
This news comes to us via T-Mobile’s Network Evolution page, which states “Capacity and coverage of T-Mobile’s 2G (GSM) network is expected to change starting as early as September 1, 2024.” You could argue regarding what this means, but the easy conclusion to reach is that it is pointing to that aspect of the company’s network spectrum being retired — whether gradually or cold turkey. It’s definitely due.
This Means Users Who Are Somehow Still Using 2G Smartphones Will Need To Upgrade To Something Newer
If you’re somehow using a phone that doesn’t even support 3G and is stuck with 2G support, this certainly isn’t music to your ears. You’ll either need to move to another US carrier that supports 2G (which certainly isn’t any of the major three) or you’re going to have to upgrade your device.
The problem is, 2G is old, and even if you move to another network, don’t be surprised if they eventually reach this point too. There’s been an alternative to 2G for nearly two decades now.
To be fair, not all 2G phones are old, so even if you’re using one of HMD’s brand-new Nokia feature phones (like the Nokia 5310 (2024)), you only get 2G coverage. That’ll make phones like that a bad choice for US customers.
The Mobile Carrier Is The Last Of The Big Three To Still Have Its 2G Networks Operational
T-Mobile is actually the last major carrier in the United States to still have its 2G networks up and running (though less so than a year ago). AT&T was quick to shed that weight in 2017 and Verizon said “no more” in 2024.
It’s quite interesting too, since T-Mobile actually retired its 3G networks in 2022 — yep, before 2G was put to rest. That means that by the end of the year, you’ll have to either move to a 4G or a 5G phone. Fortunately, almost all smartphones are at least 4G these days. That even includes some feature phones.
