T-Mobile to retire Sprint's LTE network in June 2022

T-Mobile this week announced plans to retire Sprint's LTE network in 2022, with the shutdown due to arrive six months after Sprint's 3G assets are scheduled to cease operations.

Announced in a post to its support website, T-Mobile's planned shutdown of Sprint's LTE services is currently slated for June 30, 2022. The company previously said Sprint's 3G network will be retired on January 1.

T-Mobile confirmed the timeline in a statement to Light Reading.

The shutdown is the next step of T-Mobile's plan to combine its assets with Sprint's following a hard-won $26 billion merger that was finalized in April 2020. With Sprint now under its umbrella, T-Mobile is moving forward with an initiative to build out a sprawling 5G network using spectrum and towers previously owned by Sprint.

"Across the industry, wireless companies are working to retire older network technologies as part of an important progression that will greatly enhance the performance of 4G and 5G, giving customers a better wireless experience," T-Mobile says in the support document. "To ensure all customers can enjoy a more advanced 4G and 5G network, we will be retiring older network technologies to free up resources and spectrum that will help us strengthen our entire network, move all customers to more advanced technologies and bridge the Digital Divide."

T-Mobile previously announced plans to retire its GSM 2G and UMTS 3G networks, though a firm shutdown date has not been set.

The Sprint brand began a wind down process last summer and roughly 33% of existing customers are now on T-Mobile's network, Light Reading reports.

Most Sprint users were able to take advantage of T-Mobile's infrastructure shortly after the merger closed and in April of last year. At the time, T-Mobile said it would allow Sprint subscribers to roam on its LTE towers for free.

Industry rivals Verizon and AT&T are also moving to shutter legacy networks as the shift to 5G continues. AT&T is looking to shut down its 3G network in early 2022, while Verizon plans to do the same a year later, the report said.

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9 Comments

ArchStanton

said about 2 years ago

Some people who use Sprint will swear by it. It's conformational bias in action. Sprint coverage and throughputs suck. For anyone holding onto Spring because they've had it a long time and don't want to change, T Mobile is doing you a solid favor by forcing you onto the T Mobile network.

Life hack tip: Verizon, At&T (and probably T Mobile) networks are sold by third parties at discount rates. 75$ for a Verizon unlimited talk and text can be had for under 50$ through third party sellers. You are using the exact same network for 33% off. You just don't get the support network and stores, and you usually have to outright own your phone (though some give nice deals - an At&T reseller called Mint was selling iPhone 12 at regular price but offering something like first 6 months of service free. A superb deal).

cpsro

said about 2 years ago

Not sure how “bridge the Digital Divide” is accomplished by cutting off users who can’t afford to update their gear.

the1maximus

said about 2 years ago

cpsro said:

Not sure how “bridge the Digital Divide” is accomplished by cutting off users who can’t afford to update their gear.

What gear would they need to update? All phones made in the last decade work across all providers and are 4G LTE. So they get to keep their devices and take advantage of the newer networks. If that’s not enough, T-Mobile has plenty of free phones that people can take advantage of. For example if you walk into a T-Mobile store and hand them ANY phone in working condition, They will literally give you a 5G phone.

mpantone

said about 2 years ago

ArchStanton said:

Some people who use Sprint will swear by it. It's conformational bias in action. Sprint coverage and throughputs suck. For anyone holding onto Spring because they've had it a long time and don't want to change, T Mobile is doing you a solid favor by forcing you onto the T Mobile network.

Life hack tip: Verizon, At&T (and probably T Mobile) networks are sold by third parties at discount rates. 75$ for a Verizon unlimited talk and text can be had for under 50$ through third party sellers. You are using the exact same network for 33% off. You just don't get the support network and stores, and you usually have to outright own your phone (though some give nice deals - an At&T reseller called Mint was selling iPhone 12 at regular price but offering something like first 6 months of service free. A superb deal).

Multiple instances of misinformation here. All of the 3G handsets have cellular radio chipsets that cover multiple bands including the ones T-Mobile would continue supports.

Also Mint Mobile is a MVNO using T-Mobile's network, not AT&T's. Mint Mobile is not an "At&T reseller" [sic].

None of this MVNO stuff is new. There are tons of companies who have done this over the years and many of them (e.g., Cricket, Virgin Mobile) were acquired by the Big Three.

libertyforall

said about 2 years ago

ArchStanton said:

Some people who use Sprint will swear by it. It's conformational bias in action. Sprint coverage and throughputs suck. For anyone holding onto Spring because they've had it a long time and don't want to change, T Mobile is doing you a solid favor by forcing you onto the T Mobile network.

Life hack tip: Verizon, At&T (and probably T Mobile) networks are sold by third parties at discount rates. 75$ for a Verizon unlimited talk and text can be had for under 50$ through third party sellers. You are using the exact same network for 33% off. You just don't get the support network and stores, and you usually have to outright own your phone (though some give nice deals - an At&T reseller called Mint was selling iPhone 12 at regular price but offering something like first 6 months of service free. A superb deal).

NO, Mint is on T-Mobile network!