T-Mobile will shut down Sprint’s LTE network next summer
TL; DR
- T-Mobile has announced that it will shut down Sprint’s LTE network on June 30, 2022.
- You will need to switch to a newer device to keep the service running.
- The CDMA network should be closed on January 1st of this year.
The LTE shutdown will take place six months after an already announced plan to deactivate the Sprint CDMA network on January 1, 2022. T-Mobile had already started to alert customers at the end of 2020 and promised to notify anyone who needs action. The operator argued that this would not only help people move to “real broadband speeds” but also to free spectrum that T-Mobile can use to further improve LTE and 5G performance.
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T-Mobile is also planning to dismantle its 2G and UMTS-based 3G networks, but has not yet set a deadline.
The timing is not entirely surprising. T-Mobile’s 5G network can span nationwide, but it lacks some of the mid-range frequencies required to increase performance. The sooner T-Mobile can recapture the Sprint LTE network, the better the company can compete with competing carriers. These competitors are also taking similar steps. AT&T will shut down its 3G network in early 2022, and Verizon (Disclaimer: This author writes for Verizon’s own Engadget) is planning an equivalent move in early 2023.
However, this LTE shutdown may not amaze you if you are a Sprint user. If you didn’t receive any notification before, you now have less than a year to switch devices (or providers) if you want to keep service. And that is a real problem when T-Mobile has switched only about a third of Sprint customers to its mobile radio system. You may need to upgrade your phone significantly sooner than you expected, and that could mean that you are settling for less-than-great hardware.
