While T-Mobile technically acquired Sprint nearly nine months ago with the eventual goal of shutting down the "Now Network" and migrating as many customers as possible to the nation's leading "Un-carrier", this transition from two wireless service providers to one major force to be reckoned with was always envisioned as a lengthy and fairly complicated process.
For what it's worth, said multi-year undertaking appears to be moving along at a relatively slow but decidedly orderly pace, as T-Mo plans to halt activation of CDMA-only devices and devices lacking VoLTE support on Sprint's legacy network as early as January 1, 2021, according to a recent letter allegedly received by a "valued business customer."
That's a measly four days away at the time of this writing, which feels like exceptionally short notice for something so seemingly important, but that only concerns new activations, so existing Sprint subscribers actually have nothing to worry about... yet.
Then again, their time will come "on or around January 1, 2022" to let go of any and all CDMA-only devices and dual mode CDMA/LTE devices without Voice over LTE capabilities still in use. That's because Magenta intends to completely terminate the archaic Sprint CDMA network roughly a year from now, which seems to more or less line up with the general schedule shared by CEO Mike Sievert just a few weeks back.
Sievert described his company's Sprint-killing moves of 2020 as mostly "isolated" affairs, predicting said efforts will barely begin "in earnest" at some point in 2022. Clearly, a CDMA network shutdown sounds like a big and "earnest" step towards burying Sprint's name and technology altogether after already uniting its brand with that of T-Mobile for marketing purposes and combining the two's 5G resources for, well, Verizon and AT&T-crushing purposes.
Although January 1, 2022 is not exactly right around the corner, it's probably a good idea to look into upgrading or replacing your outdated "equipment" as soon as possible. Something tells us T-Mobile will roll out a number of sweet deals aimed specifically at making your transition from a CDMA-only to a 5G-enabled device as smooth and as cheap as possible within the next 12 months, so be sure to keep an eye out for stuff like that too.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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