Will your cellphone work after February 2022?

[MUSTANG]

I just have an old flip phone.
Will it still work??????

Seems like a good way to force everyone to buy a new phone.
Is that even legal?????

Remember Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts? Call it a Tax and it's legal. Then Congress can do whatever it wants Constitutional Rights be Danged.

[MUSTANG]

Concerning 5G towers; 500 Meter Range etc...

The laws of physics can't be changed. VHF to some extent will "Flow" over terrain and penetrate foliage; whereas when we get into the UHF and SHF band these traits are lost. The 5G frequencies are highly influenced by foliage, obstacles (your house walls dependent on construction), and other factors - couple this with cities of hundreds of thousands to Millions and to be able to support these people a network needs MANY Towers/Sites but are forced to operate at low powers in order to reuse the frequencies across MANY towers/sites to support these populations. When we get to the small towns/rural we will see the later flavors of 4G retained (for some period) because of distances. I speculate we will see a mandate to ADD a status reporting computer to older vehicles that do not have them within 10 years.

Over time we will see the Interstates, US Highways (with heavy traffic) populated with 5G along the highway. This will be for two purposes (1) to keep the cell phone/video addicts sated and reduce complaints, and (2) allow the computers on board today's Cars/Trucks to communicate with Networks and report traffic loads - stopped vehicles, etc.., and finally (3) to support reporting of Miles Traveled by specific vehicles (Yes tracking YOU) for taxation purposes as we migrate TOO (Not from) both Fuel and Miles Traveled being taxed by States and Federal Government.

[Daekar]

They have been marketing the heck out of 5G for ages, but the reality is that it absolutely will not ever be the sole technology in play, the range is just too short. In high density markets, deploying antennae might be worth it, but outside anywhere denser than suburbs it's not going to be an option. 4G LTE is going to be around in some form for years.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Tracfone ended my Mom's service in Dec 2020, she was using a 12 yr old flip phone. She switched to Verizon and a iphone 7.
I'm still using Tracfone's pay as you go "smartphone" service with a iphone 6.5

[reloader28]

This is not new news. I started getting this message since last spring. They said all 3g would be gone.
I'd hate to guess how old my flip phone was, but I didnt have to buy my new flip phone. They gave me one. Why???? Because they are doing everything they can to easily keep track of everyone.
Tried their darndest to get me to get a smart phone instead. I would rather go without a phone at all than get one of them. My house phone still works.
It dont do any good to try and track me anyways because 98% of the time I leave it sit at home.

[rbuck351]

They forced me out of the cellphone system, well they actually allowed me to not have a phone. I never like carrying one around and making sure it stayed charged. I used it once or twice a month to make a call but the worst part was swmbo could keep tabs on me. Now I'm free of the leash. If they force me to put some kind of tracker in my car (none have one now) I'm fairly sure the insides will fry somehow. Electronics in cars just aren't very reliable.

[waksupi]

Y2K all over again ?

Let's see what happened on that day ...don't you remember ... nothing !

I disagree! Yard sales were fantastic after it all blew over!

[JoeJames]

I got a free one from AT&T. Done waited them out; so they replaced my old 3G flip phone for free with a 4G flip phone. Still yet trying to figure it out.

[gwpercle]

Yeah, 4g is pretty ubiquitous now and they need to repurpose the spectrum away from the low-revenue luddites that are hanging on to their flip phones.

I got a brand new Flip-Phone about 3 weeks ago ... it say's Verizon and below that it says Kyocera (which I don't have a clue is ) and it's a brand new flip phone ...my first one . Wife thought I would like it because it small size , folds up to half the size of a flat phone ... fits in pocket better so I might carry it more ... I might , pockets get full quick ...if you want me call my wife she carries a stupid phone everywhere she goes including the toilet room .
Gary

[georgerkahn]

Already got notified that my dad’s flip phone will not work. We live out in the sticks here in Central NYS and they are already switching the cell towers over to 5G.

Same here in further-out sticks! I LOVE my flip Trac-fone, but they switched something on towers to grossly reduce coverage area already -- including no signal at our camp. Now, I received a flyer with "smart-phones" to choose from... Sadly, I'm thinking of sucking it up and getting a Verizon-based iPhone from Spectrum. $14.00/month including unlimited calling and texting... it may even beat the Trac-fone?

geo

[Sasquatch-1]

This is not new news. I started getting this message since last spring. They said all 3g would be gone.
I'd hate to guess how old my flip phone was, but I didnt have to buy my new flip phone. They gave me one. Why???? Because they are doing everything they can to easily keep track of everyone.
Tried their darndest to get me to get a smart phone instead. I would rather go without a phone at all than get one of them. My house phone still works.
It dont do any good to try and track me anyways because 98% of the time I leave it sit at home.

If you got the same "Flip 4" that I got it is a smart phone. Just not as easy to use as the flat phones.

[JimB..]

Keep in mind your cell phones should still connect to 911 because it’s by satellite regardless of signal shown on the display. Even if you have taken the service off of it. I was told the 911 operator will see the name of the last registered owner of it.
If anyone thinks this has changed please correct this statement.

Mike

911 is not available on a cell phone via satellite. In most cases a carrier will allow a cell phone that has no subscriber service to place a call to 911. This may be mandatory, I don’t recall anymore, but it is absolutely terrestrial and not satellite.

I don’t doubt for a min that they are shutting down 3G, the 4G, 4G/LTE basestation gear is less efficient when connecting with 3G phones and I don’t thing the 5G basestation supports it at all. I would not expect a significant reduction in coverage from a 3G to a 4G/LTE change because it’s the same service using the same towers in the same frequencies. Where you might take a hit is the max radiating power in the old phone, they tended to be higher. I do not believe that they are forcing rural folks to 5G only.

5G is so many things that it is hard to even discuss. It is not a frequency and it is not a range. T-mobile for example has a 5G implementation down in either the 600mhz or 700mhz band and the range is measured in miles while a number of carriers have 5G networks in millimeter wave bands in NYC with ranges as short as 100 meters. 5G is a marketing term and means different things with each implementation. Oh, and 6G is coming.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I just have an old flip phone.
Will it still work??????

Seems like a good way to force everyone to buy a new phone.
Is that even legal?????

Congress green lights corporations fleecing the public for money.

[popper]

if you want me call my wife she carries a stupid phone everywhere she goes -- an has her brain in left hand.

[JimB..]

Congress green lights corporations fleecing the public for money.

You could just throw it away and avoid any further expense, make yourself fleece-proof.

The company investors built the old stuff, now they want to build new stuff. As a 3G customer you don’t generate enough profit for them to bother with you, and somehow that’s the government’s fault?

[MUSTANG]

Keep in mind those Thousands of Satellites being put up in LEO. They will provide "Home Streaming TV & Internet". If you have internet; then it's a step to bridge WIFI to Internet - most currently do that in their homes via a box from the vendor. Not much of a step to migrate to the WIFI and "Internet" being beamed down from the satellite. The great Svengali Mustang says in the very near future one will see Hand Held cell phones (not sat phones) being able to connect via satellite to the SMS and Voice cell phone systems.