Maine, Here’s Why Your Older Phone Does Not Work Anymore

If you are like most smartphone owners, you probably update your phone every few years.  We always want the phone with the best camera, the best artificial intelligence, the cool folding screen.  We’ve been trained by the media to always want the newest phone, even if our current phone still works fine.

That’s the way it is for most people, at least.

On the other hand, there are some of us that hang onto our old phones as long as we can.  The screen is smashed, it drops calls all the time, and the battery only lasts 30 minutes, but they are going to have to pry that phone from your cold, dead hands.

If I am being honest, the latter is me.  The last time I upgraded it was because the crack in my screen had gotten so bad that the screen died.  I am not a fan of upgrading because it means that I have to reinstall/set up all the apps I need for work.  Such a pain!

If you have been holding onto an older phone, you may have noticed that it is not working.  If you thought it was just a technical problem with the network, we have some bad news.  That phone will never work again.

Over the last few months, many service providers have sunset their CDMA/3G networks.  USCellular, for example, did this a few weeks ago.  Once those networks have been turned off, only 4G and 5G phones will have service.

The good news is that most people have probably ditched their old 3G phones long ago.  If you have a 3G phone, it is probably at least a decade old.  That is years past the phone’s life expectancy.

Additionally, the shutdown of the network has been widely publicized.  There have been TV news stories about it, articles on tech websites, and mailers sent out from cellphone providers.

Still, those people who only use their phones for emergencies may have an old 3G phone kicking around.

What do you do if you had been using a 3G phone?

Just go to your cellular provider and explain that you need an upgrade.  There is a really good chance that they already know that you need an upgrade.  Most of them have incredible deals on new phones.  This is especially true if all you want is a phone that makes calls.  You can literally get one for just a few dollars a month.

For example, at USCellular, you can get an ANS f30 for about $4 per month.

Of course, this could be a great opportunity for you to jump aboard the smartphone train.