I have, for the last few months, been talking about Verizon's "3G"
network being retired, and how my wife's "4G LTE" phone isn't
acceptable to Verizon's vision of the future, and how Verizon keeps
telling me I have to spend a whole lot of money to earn the privilege
of continuing to pay them for cellular service.

The latest missive arrive a day or two ago, and I'll quote the
relevant passages FYI:

One or More of Your Devices Will Stop Working on January 1,
2023. We're Here to Help.

In order to make way for more advanced and reliable cellular
services, older 3G networks are being decommisshioned by
U.S. wireless carriers. At Verizon, our 3G network will be shut
down by December 31, 2022.

This means that beginning January 1, 2023, any Verizon device
(and network externder) that does not support our newer network
technologies will lose the ability to call, text, or use data,
including the ability to make 911 emergency calls.

We don't want to see your service disrupted. We have many options
to keep you connected, including free phones.

Now, I'm as anxious as the next guy to retain the ability to dial 911
if the occasion arrises, although I am kind of miffed that Verizon
chooses to try to shame me with the fact that they're willing to risk
the loss of life or limb in order to make more obscene profits.

I like relizble cellular networks, too, although one is about as
reliable as any other, or about one-tenth as reliable as a copper pair
from the Central Office to my home. What happed, Verizon, to the
copper pairs?

As for "any Verizon device," well, my wife has a device that says "4g
LTE" *AND* "Verizon" on it, so I think that qualifies it as a "Verizon
device." I don't know why a phone labelled "4G LTE" would be unable to
work after the end of this year, just after the Novemeber elections in
the U.S., but I'd guess that it has something to do with generating
more income for Verizon.

A few weeks ago, Someone commented that some phones are labelled "4G"
but only have "4G" data capabilities, and only "3G" voice capabil-
ities. My wife's phone, IIRC, is an LG 930 AT - what Verizon calls an
"LG Spectrum 2" in the lists of devices I own that are going to stop
working at the end of this year, right after the elections in the U.S.

As for "network externders" stopping, well, that's kind of weird: you
see, I own a network extender, which is a tiny cell site sitting on my
shelf next to my Internet cable modem and my router, and it converts
whatever kind of cell signal my wife's phone puts out into IP packets
that are routed to Verizon over the Internet connection that I pay
for, so it seems really odd to me that the network extender would stop
working at the same time Verizon's cell towers stop offering "3G"
service. After all, the network extender is still working, at least
within a few feet of my home, and my wife's phone could stil use it if
both were left alone. I assume is has something to do with generating
more income for Verizon.

THose are topics for further debate, but the biggest item on my list
of things-they-are-getting-wrong is the claim that Verizon has many
options available to keep me connected, including a free phone. You
see, I called Verizon's customer service department, and I told them I
was interested in having the privilege of paying them $73 pre month if
they would provide me with the 'free phone' their letter mentions.

I spent over 15 minutes on hold, and endured endless claims that
"someone" would be with me, and an offer to sell me a new cellular
phone for "only five dollars a month," but I never, even once, heard
anything from anyone who could supply me with a free phone to replace
the "4G LTE" phone my wife has.

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This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
On 8/19/2022 2:15 PM, Bill Horne wrote:

I have, for the last few months, been talking about Verizon's "3G"
network being retired, and how my wife's "4G LTE" phone isn't
acceptable to Verizon's vision of the future, and how Verizon keeps
telling me I have to spend a whole lot of money to earn the privilege
of continuing to pay them for cellular service.

...

A few weeks ago, Someone commented that some phones are labelled "4G"
but only have "4G" data capabilities, and only "3G" voice capabil-
ities. My wife's phone, IIRC, is an LG 930 AT - what Verizon calls an
"LG Spectrum 2" in the lists of devices I own that are going to stop
working at the end of this year, right after the elections in the U.S.

The LG VS930 came out about ten years ago, and runs Android 4, which in smartphone terms is somewhere like using Windows 98 (Android releases
come faster than Windows). Its LTE support is limited to Band 13. That
is Verizon's widest-coverage band and by an FCC rule specific to Band 13
(the only nationwide mobile license) they are supposed to allow "any" compatible device on that network. But they may not have had VoLTE
finished by 2012, so the phone's voice support is probably only CDMA.
Plus Verizon's 4G network nowadays makes extensive use of bands 5 (800
MHz cellular), 2 (1900 MHz PCS), and 66 (1700/2100 MHz AWS, superset of
Band 4).

VZW's web site lists a number of "free" phones, free if you sign up with
a 36-month contract with certain plans, but that's for new lines only,
and you may not like that kind of lock-in anyway. Still, it's a fact of
life that cell phones are designed for a lifespan of about 3 years, and
the networks take that into account. You can get still-supported used
phones off of eBay if you don't want to shell out for new, though decent
if basic Motos are under $200.

--
Fred R. Goldstein k1io fred "at" interisle.net
Interisle Consulting Group
+1 617 795 2701

<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 8/19/2022 2:15 PM, Bill Horne wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:20220819181557.GA121797@telecomdigest.us">
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">I have, for the last few months, been talking about Verizon's "3G"
network being retired, and how my wife's "4G LTE" phone isn't
acceptable to Verizon's vision of the future, and how Verizon keeps
telling me I have to spend a whole lot of money to earn the privilege
of continuing to pay them for cellular service.

...

A few weeks ago, Someone commented that some phones are labelled "4G"
but only have "4G" data capabilities, and only "3G" voice capabil-
ities. My wife's phone, IIRC, is an LG 930 AT - what Verizon calls an
"LG Spectrum 2" in the lists of devices I own that are going to stop
working at the end of this year, right after the elections in the U.S.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
The LG VS930 came out about ten years ago, and runs Android 4, which
in smartphone terms is somewhere like using Windows 98 (Android
releases come faster than Windows). Its LTE support is limited to
Band 13. That is Verizon's widest-coverage band and by an FCC rule
specific to Band 13 (the only nationwide mobile license) they are
supposed to allow "any" compatible device on that network. But they
may not have had VoLTE finished by 2012, so the phone's voice
support is probably only CDMA. Plus Verizon's 4G network nowadays
makes extensive use of bands 5 (800 MHz cellular), 2 (1900 MHz PCS),
and 66 (1700/2100 MHz AWS, superset of Band 4). <br>
<br>
VZW's web site lists a number of "free" phones, free if you sign up
with a 36-month contract with certain plans, but that's for new
lines only, and you may not like that kind of lock-in anyway. 
Still, it's a fact of life that cell phones are designed for a
lifespan of about 3 years, and the networks take that into account.
You can get still-supported used phones off of eBay if you don't
want to shell out for new, though decent if basic Motos are under
$200.<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Fred R. Goldstein k1io fred "at" interisle.net
Interisle Consulting Group
+1 617 795 2701</pre>
</body>
</html>

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On Sat, Aug 20, 2022 at 12:04:42PM -0400, Fred Goldstein wrote:

On 8/19/2022 2:15 PM, Bill Horne wrote:

A few weeks ago, Someone commented that some phones are labelled
"4G" but only have "4G" data capabilities, and only "3G" voice
capabil- ities. My wife's phone, IIRC, is an LG 930 AT - what
Verizon calls an "LG Spectrum 2" in the lists of devices I own
that are going to stop working at the end of this year, right
after the elections in the U.S.

The LG VS930 came out about ten years ago, and runs Android 4, which in smartphone terms is somewhere like using Windows 98 (Android releases come faster than Windows). Its LTE support is limited to Band 13. That is Verizon's
widest-coverage band and by an FCC rule specific to Band 13 (the only nationwide mobile license) they are supposed to allow "any" compatible device on that network. But they may not have had VoLTE finished by 2012, so the phone's voice support is probably only CDMA. Plus Verizon's 4G network nowadays
makes extensive use of bands 5 (800 MHz cellular), 2 (1900 MHz PCS), and 66 (1700/2100 MHz AWS, superset of Band 4).

Here are the details on my wife's phone (From the phone's settings
menu, "Phone info" page):

Phone Model number is "VS930 4G"
Warranty Date Code 04/04/2013 18:36

I hope someone has access to databases that can provide an
authoritative yes/no answer about whether this phone is "3G" or "4G."
More to the point, I hope someone can tell me how to keep it in use
after the end of the year.

I either have to throw out the phone and the Network Extender I
bought, or convince Verizon that they've made a mistake. I suspect
that the Network Extender is going to stop working no matter what: I
bought it from Verizon when I found out that their covereage was not
as good as the other ham operators in town said it was, but Verizon
doesn't seem interested in offering the increased reliability and
covrage that these devices offer to users in the hills of Western
North Carolina - many of the businesses in town make them available to
their customers - and I suspect that their PR crew can't stand the
thought of having to admit that even Verizon is subject to the laws of
physics.

Time will tell: rather than endure sub-par service and being able to
make calls only from certain rooms of my home, or when standing on my
porch, I'll just use my VoIP phone: it works reliably, so I'll be able
to get calls even while I'm inside my home. My wife still helps out
with meals-on-wheels once a week, and I'll give her my Ting mobile 5G
phone to use. I pay $25 a month for it, and it seems to work OK in the
car.

Bill

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