Please, do NOT shutdown 2G

Just put my SIM in a 2G only device and it works fine, I think you mean on the old Metro PCs CDMA network? The only thing “activated” in a GSM phone is the SIM card while in CDMA phones the phone itself has to be “activated”

That’s fine, I just beg that T-Mobile keep the existing 2G network alive. At reduced capacity if needed but as long as it works.

Yes, they said through 2020.

Can we have an update now? I ask T-Mobile to please not shut down 2G come 2021.

I know. Which is why I suggested a fee for 2G service for those who need it so they can make money.

T-Mobile may keep a couple of 2G GSM RFCs running in the guard-bands of band-2 LTE for legacy IoT customers but this is a poor platform for voice and data. Low capacity leads to dropped calls, poor service and unhappy customers. Leaving a 5x5 PCS block dedicated to 2G or 3G is a waste of resources in today’s market.

T-Mobile is really enamored of the next shiny thing. The next phone(s) we buy will all be 5G because we keep phones for 5 years and I’m not sure T-Mobile will still be running LTE 5 years from now. 

P.S. I’m a phone collector. I have phones going back 20 years to my Nokia 2190. I’d like nothing more that to be able to use some of these old beauties for years to come. Already, T-Mobile SIMs are incompatible with some of them, like my old Moto V550. That’s life. We can fuss about it but like @sweetpeach says, “Progress happens.”

Thanks for the opinions everyone. I still disagree with shutting down 2G completely though.

I hope someone from T-Mobile can get us some official and current information about the future of 2G, if any, soon.

Shutting down 2G will affect thousands of people and will cause a massive amount of e-waste from perfectly usable phones. It’s not just me. It’s thousands of others who believe in the Right to Repair their own devices and re-using them, rather than nonstop consuming and throwing away.

There’s nothing “progressive” about consumerism and planned obsolescence. It is what’s polluting our planet.

AT&T shutting down 2G was 100% greed based to sell new devices.

I will not judge T-Mobile yet since there is no confirmation they will completely shut down 2G yet.

BTW, I quit reading your post after this.

Good. I’ll quit reading yours because you don’t have anything to say other than personal attacks.

FYI I usually list below the price of other listings for the same model of phone.

But this is getting silly, let’s just respect each others opinions and not fight about this anymore.

I’d just like to point out that T-Mobile is the only major US carrier that currently allows customers to use whatever device they want. Verizon requires approved devices and won’t activate a non-LTE device. AT&T dropped 2G years ago and won’t allow BYOD’s access to VoLTE. USCC & CSpire: see Verizon. Maybe Viaero and Union. (Only one Viaero 2G site has been seen on CellMapper in the last year. The last Union 2G site was mapped in 2018.For comparison’s sake, 10 T-Mobile 2G sites have been mapped by CellMapper this year, in my county alone.)

Maybe some ire needs to be directed at the competition for their abandonment of 2G technology.

I have iPhone first generation phones which I use sometimes on T-Mobile’s network.  They worked well up until last year, and now the coverage on 2g only is so spotty that it’s basically not usable anyhow.  The iPhone 3g’s which use 3G networks still work fine and will be usable here in AZ, however they were already not working in NY/PA several years ago.  I’d rather keep my devices forever too, but there is a limit and no stopping a business from serving the majority of their customers even though some will be left behind.