3G Network Shutdown?

[WJA777]

Has Telstra given any indication of when they will begin to shutdown the 3G network? This has significant ramifications for phones that do not work with Telstra VoLTE, the recently released Huawei P20 Pro and OnePlus 6 to name two.

[Yastiandrie]

2020ish as far as i know

[WJA777]

I'm really surprised that there is so little discussion around the web on this topic. Retailers are selling phones hand over fist that will probably never be VoLTE compliant and yet this can be a reception issue now, if you happen to be in an area that is only serviced by a 4G small cell, and the issue is going to get bigger as time goes on with most new tower deployments being 4G.  If the demise of 3G is in sight, it's really strange that it's not being discussed more.

[DrQ]

Wow. I would have expected at least 2025, considering they are still selling 3G only prepaid devices and I would expect Telstra to work on a 2-3 lifespan of those devices. They hadn’t sold 2G for about 5 years and people were still complaining so ~18 months is going to be interesting.

[Jupiter]

Yes, I would have thought 2025 would have been about the mark for a 3G switchoff as it will be 2020 before 5G even makes much of a dent in most areas.

Mind you, the manufacturers need to get on board and start talking to the carriers to get their ducks lined up. It's not all the carriers responsibility to make sure that phones that are on sale at 3rd party retailers are up to scratch.

[WJA777]

But aren't phones that are not VoLTE compliant limited to some extent right now and the situation will get worse? I'm talking about the increased prevalence of Band 28 and 4G small cells. I'm agonising about purchasing a phone that likely won't ever be VoLTE compliant, the OnePlus 6, and am trying to gauge how big a problem that will be for me both now and going forward a couple of years. I'd appreciate any opinion on that. I don't live in a rural area.

[ProfessorPhone]

I can't believe Telstra would dream of closing 3G before 2025 as many 4G pre S6 phones fall back on 3G for voice

[Jupiter]

If you're not in a regional area and you are not glued to your phone 24/7, then you are probably not going to be impacted hugely by the LTE small cell rollouts.

People who have a phone that work on Telstra's VoLTE will receive better service as they will be able to take advantage of the small cell sites, but that is the decision that you will need to make.

[Mictrack]

if so all 3G GPS Tracker will can not work and have to upgrade to 4G GPS Tracker.

[DrQ]

When it is shut down then yes, at that stage all 3G only devices will stop working on the mobile network.

[ProfessorPhone]

It's a pity we don't follow the American model and maintain older systems (with less frequency space to enable refarming if necessary ).