T-Mobile Shutting Down Sprint's LTE Network in June 2022

[MacRumors]

T-Mobile is planning to shut down Sprint's LTE network on June 30, 2022, T-Mobile confirmed to Light Reading. The shuttering of Sprint's LTE network is part of an effort to merge the two networks following T-Mobile's purchase of Sprint.

T-Mobile is building a 5G network that uses Sprint spectrum and towers, and it is aiming to shift Sprint customers to the T-Mobile network instead of the Sprint network.

In addition to shutting down the Sprint LTE network, T-Mobile plans to deactivate Sprint's 3G CDMA network on January 1, 2022.

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. An additional part of this effort involves moving Sprint's LTE spectrum to the T-Mobile network.

At the current time, T-Mobile has transitioned approximately 33 percent of Sprint customers to the T-Mobile network. Before Sprint's LTE network is shuttered, customers will need to transition to T-Mobile by replacing their Sprint SIMs with a T-Mobile SIM and ensuring that Voice over LTE is enabled in the device settings for voice calls on applicable devices.

T-Mobile says that most Sprint LTE and 5G devices are compatible with T-Mobile's LTE and 5G networks.

Article Link: T-Mobile Shutting Down Sprint's LTE Network in June 2022

 

[_Spinn_]

I figured this would happen sooner or later. Hopefully there aren’t too many people with old phones that will go dark.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Hopefully this will be a good transition for the sprint consumers.

 

[Justin Cymbal]

June 30, 2013 was when Sprint shut down their old Nextel network- interesting that T-Mobile chose the same date

I’m a T-Mobile customer so definitely looking forward to the improvements in T-Mobile’s new 5G network

 

[MrTSolar]

So much for a "merger". Shut down a good network and replace it with crap. Thank you T-Mobile, for making me switch to Verizon ?. Out of the four, Sprint was the best I had.

 

[alexandr]

So much for a "merger". Shut down a good network and replace it with crap. Thank you T-Mobile, for making me switch to Verizon ?. Out of the four, Sprint was the best I had.

wow, first person i've seen to praise sprint! can i have your autograph?

 

[Frixos]

have had sprint for a while. Got a T-Mobile SIM card a month or so ago - worse reception. Switched back and plan to stay on Sprint as long as possible

 

[cmaier]

Hopefully this will be a good transition for the sprint consumers.

If you have a device that is on the sprint network, how could it be a good transition? Is t-mobile going to buy replacement cars for folks with automobiles that use the sprint network for connectivity? Shutting down any LTE network at this point is way too early.

 

[bousozoku]

Here, Sprint was as fast (100Mbps as far back as 2016) as the other three combined. T-Mobile was the worst.

A couple of months ago, when they reduced the network performance, I got the T-Mobile SIM and got the same exact performance.

I always had trouble understanding T-Mobile customers on voice calls, and having had Aerial (before Voicestream/T-Mobile USA) back in the day, I remember my calls always being distorted. I've had a couple of voice calls in the past two weeks and they've been acceptable.

It feels as though they didn't shut down Sprint's towers but adjusted the frequencies to those of T-Mobile and shut down the towers that T-Mobile was using. Things aren't bad at the moment. The extra bandwidth is probably supporting 5G service.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

If you have a device that is on the sprint network, how could it be a good transition? Is t-mobile going to buy replacement cars for folks with automobiles that use the sprint network for connectivity? Shutting down any LTE network at this point is way too early.

Hoping T-Mobile focuses on transitioning the two networks together seemingly. I’m pretty much T-Mobile will be upgrading old and current sprint towers with their own network.

 

[lordhamster]

June 30, 2013 was when Sprint shut down their old Nextel network- interesting that T-Mobile chose the same date

I’m a T-Mobile customer so definitely looking forward to the improvements in T-Mobile’s new 5G network

Probably not that random. That is fiscal year end for many companies.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

So much for a "merger". Shut down a good network and replace it with crap. Thank you T-Mobile, for making me switch to Verizon ?. Out of the four, Sprint was the best I had.

lol Sprint was hot garbage.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I’m curious to see what Google does with Fi now one of their networks is going way.

 

[StaceyMJ86]

I still wouldn’t switch back to T-Mobile. I was with T-Mobile for 7 years before switching to Verizon a year ago and I haven’t regretted the decision not one bit. T-Mobile hasn’t been all bad as my daughter have service with them and she hasn’t complained. It’s good enough for her.

 

[jhwalker]

lol Sprint was hot garbage.

Not here. Sprint is the best - I have Verizon (for work) and now T-Mobile (SIM swap). Sprint was by FAR the most reliable and fastest :/

 

[camarograna2]

So much for a "merger". Shut down a good network and replace it with crap. Thank you T-Mobile, for making me switch to Verizon ?. Out of the four, Sprint was the best I had.

Survey says this is likely a lie or you represent a small percentage of the population

 

[cmaier]

Hoping T-Mobile focuses on transitioning the two networks together seemingly. I’m pretty much T-Mobile will be upgrading old and current sprint towers with their own network.

Sure, but, again, that doesn’t necessarily magically update your devices to work on that network.

 

[MrTSolar]

wow, first person i've seen to praise sprint! can i have your autograph?

You don't live in Pittsburgh, then. T-Mobile is hands-down the worst. Barely had coverage anywhere I went, and didn't have coverage on the road. AT&T won't allow hotspotting on their MVNOs, and Verizon is $20 more expensive than everyone else. Sprint and T-Mobile both offered hotspotting (T-Mobile MVNOs went further and offered unlimited LTE data), but T-Mobile's weak signal meant that LTE was barely faster than 3g and nowhere near as stable. Sprint had the coverage, stability, and speed while allowing hotspotting, and their MiFi plans couldn't be beat. It was a sad day when the announced T-Mobile was taking over Sprint for us.

Now, we have T-Mobile's Home Internet as a replacement for the Sprint MiFi we had before, which despite running on the new 5G network, is very limited on upload speed and insanely unstable. I finally got so fed up with no signal and poor battery life on my iPhone that I switched to Ting, who themselves jumped ship back to Verizon and gained back all the features I lost when moving from Sprint to T-Mobile.

 

[317342]

In defense of Sprint...

I sold cell phones in '97 (first job) and "Sprint PCS" had just opened here in S. California (LA/OC). Ppl got first incoming minute free...no contract...no security deposit...the first cell phone for a lot of people who couldn't otherwise afford one or didn't have enough of an established credit history. TracPhone was the only prepaid option at a whopping $1.99/min but you had to maintain a minimum balance every month; otherwise, you'd forfeit everything.

Compared with AirTouch (now Verizon), PacBell (now AT&T), and LA Cellular (also now AT&T), you got absolutely none of that, and buying a cell phone was like buying a car in those days (e.g., triplicate forms, deep credit check, security deposits, etc.) so Sprint was an "easy sell" for most people, even if the coverage was abysmal.

Anecdotally, my first cell phone (Sony) was on Sprint with a employee plan ($17/mo, 750min, unlimited weekends) and I had so little coverage on Sprint PCS that I gave people my SmartBeep # (lol, remember those?) and call them back from my Sprint PCS phone when I was in a coverage area.

 

[MrTSolar]

Survey says this is likely a lie or you represent a small percentage of the population

I'm in that small percentage of the population that has to rely on cellular for home internet. Main fiber trunks on the road a mile away, but nothing available on my road.

 

[4jasontv]

lol Sprint was hot garbage.

lol was

 

[JosephAW]

I have two work iPhones. Recently replaced sprint’s cdma sim with the new T-Mobile sim on one iPhone.
Since then I get no signal at work and at home. They tell me to make a call drive 1 mile down the street. Insane.
I’m dragging my feet with the other work iPhone until there is no cdma signal. Really poor network to transition to.
There’s going to be a lot of complaints when people find out the hard way like me. Great news for Verizon and ATT.

 

[4jasontv]

In defense of Sprint...

I sold cell phones in '97 (first job) and "Sprint PCS" had just opened here in S. California (LA/OC). Ppl got first incoming minute free...no contract...no security deposit...the first cell phone for a lot of people who couldn't otherwise afford one or didn't have enough of an established credit history. TracPhone was the only prepaid option at a whopping $1.99/min but you had to maintain a minimum balance every month; otherwise, you'd forfeit everything.

Compared with AirTouch (now Verizon), PacBell (now AT&T), and LA Cellular (also now AT&T), you got absolutely none of that, and buying a cell phone was like buying a car in those days (e.g., triplicate forms, deep credit check, security deposits, etc.) so Sprint was an "easy sell" for most people, even if the coverage was abysmal.

Anecdotally, my first cell phone (Sony) was on Sprint with a employee plan ($17/mo, 750min, unlimited weekends) and I had so little coverage on Sprint PCS that I gave people my SmartBeep # (lol, remember those?) and call them back from my Sprint PCS phone when I was in a coverage area.

Prior to 98, we had to page someone who would then call us back and take the info needed. If the stars aligned we could get a phone active in 4 hours. Sprint changed that and I remember being blown away that one could get a device activated in under 30 minutes.

 

[Project_studio99]

i been using sprint for 8-9 years and i have no complaints. I used it to watch video and the video quality is crystal clear and the phone signal is great in NYC. I now moved to north Jersey and i always get more than 100 mbps at home and at work. I dont want to switch to t-mobile.

 

[B4U]

Meanwhile, Verizon's CDMA 2G network is still up and running??
On the other hand, AT&T is shutting down their 3G network on February 22, 2022.