In the wake of AT&T’s plan to buy out T-Mobile, it looks like it’ll be the death knell for T-Mobile 3G phones already in user’s hands. AT&T is repurposing T-Mobile’s 3G towers to broadcast their 4G LTE network, which leaves the 3G users in the dust. However, it is claimed that this will take several years, so it might not kick in for quite some time:
AT&T said that some time after the closing, it plans to rearrange how T-Mobile’s cell towers work. The airwaves they use for third-generation services, or 3G, will be repurposed for 4G, which is faster.
That would leave current T-Mobile phones without 3G. They would need to be replaced with phones that use AT&T’s 3G frequencies. Ralph de la Vega, AT&T’s head of wireless and consumer services, said this will happen as part of the normal phone upgrade process.
That’s a real kick in the teeth to T-Mobile customers who were hoping to use their 3G devices for the foreseeable future. I hope that AT&T does the decent thing, and replaces affected phones for free.
[via Giz]
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It would be more decent for AT&T to replace the phones for free without a change in terms (contract extension, limiting data, requiring customers to switch to current plans…)