As reported by Light Reading and confirmed to The Verge, T-Mobile has committed to a June 30, 2022 shutdown date for Sprint’s LTE network. It’s an expected move as T-Mobile continues to absorb Sprint’s network and customers into its own base, and comes six months after its contentious planned January 1, 2022 shutdown of Sprint’s 3G CDMA network.
A third of Sprint customers have already been moved onto the T-Mobile network, according to T-Mobile. The company expects to be able to migrate the remaining two thirds by that mid-2022 deadline, according to CFO Peter Osvaldik’s remarks at an investor conference last month. Some of those customers will likely need new devices that are compatible with T-Mobile LTE and VoLTE, though the company has had no shortage of enticing 5G phone offers lately. T-Mobile says it will reach out to all customers who will need a new SIM card or device to stay connected, but if you’re curious whether your device is compatible you can run an IMEI check on T-Mobile’s website.
T-Mobile hasn’t been shy about moving quickly to consolidate Sprint’s network assets with its own
The Sprint LTE network shutdown doesn’t come as a shock — by Sprint’s own admission the network wasn’t very good to begin with, and T-Mobile hasn’t been shy about moving quickly to consolidate Sprint’s network assets with its own. The company’s 3G shutdown timeline has been the source of a lot of bad blood between T-Mobile and Dish Network, which acquired Sprint’s former prepaid business Boost Mobile as part of the merger deal.
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The relationship has soured to the point of Dish announcing that it would take the majority of its MVNO business to AT&T — which T-Mobile followed with a promotional offer directed at Boost customers. Boost had no additional comments to share about the potential impacts of the LTE shutdown on its customers when contacted by The Verge.