Telstra & Optus 3G Network Shutdown Delayed

A little while ago, we published a newsletter announcing the shutdown of the 3G network for Telstra and Optus. Initially, this date was set for the end of August but just last week it was announced the shutdown will now occur on October 28th.

This was done due to reported ‘safety concerns’ especially for those in rural communities or those with medical devices that may only run on 3G. It is vital that you check your device is compatible with 4G or 5G to ensure it will continue to run after the shutdown.

Here are a few ways to check if your phone is 4G or 5G compatible:

Device Specifications:
You can search up your device specifications online to find out if it is 4G or 5G compatible.

For iPhones you can search something like ‘iPhone X’ or whatever model you have. You can either click on a website that sells the phone or the ‘details’ option on the right side of the screen. The information will be under Broadband Generation. All iPhones are from the iPhone 6 onwards.For Android and Samsung, you can do the same steps as for the iPhone. On the main Google page it will still be under Broadband Generation.

Network Indicators:
On most phones, next to the icon that shows you’re connected to mobile data (not the wifi icon), it will usually say something like 4G, 5G, VOLTE, LTE, etc. If it just says 3G, then your phone is not connected to 4G and you will likely need to purchase a new phone to be 4G or above compatible.

Note* for iPhones, it will not show the details when you’re connected to wifi. Simply disconnect from your wifi and it will indicate 4G, 5G, 4G etc.
Do a Test Phone Call
Not only does your phone need to be 4G compatible, it also needs to be 4G VoLTE compatible. One way to test this is to do the following:

1. Ensure you can see your network indicators as outlined above.
2. Make a phone call

If your phone switches from 4G to 3G, then it is not VoLTE compatible and you will likely need to purchase a new phone.

Device Settings:
You may also be able to check which network your phone uses, although this does not always appear for all phone models. Here’s how to check:

On an iPhone, go to Settings –> General –> About. The information for what kind of network your phone can connect to should be listed here. It should also be noted, you can find your iPhone model details here, so if you can’t view the specific network, you can use this information to search up device specifications.

On an Android, go to Settings –> About Phone –> Network or it may also be shown as Status. If it does not specify here, you can check the phone model under Settings –> About Phone.

Contact the Manufactorer:
Lastly, if none of these steps work, you can contact the manufacturer directly. This would mean calling Apple, Samsung, or Pixel Phone help. They should be able to provide you information on if you will still be able to use phone data after 3G is phased out.

Summary
We understand this is a lot of information and can be quite stressful so if you need some guidance figuring out if your phone will be fine, feel free to call us at ReadyTechGo. We will do our best to give advice on what you can do and if we are unable to, will point you in the right direction.