T-Mobile will soon be discontinuing its 2G network, with the shutdown scheduled for August 3. This decision makes T-Mobile the last major carrier in the United States to retire 2G services, following AT&T's shutdown in 2017 and Verizon's in 2020.
The company maintained its 2G network longer than its competitors to allow customers and partners adequate time to transition from legacy devices. A T-Mobile spokesperson explained, "Other carriers shut down their GSM networks earlier, and T-Mobile helped fill that gap by maintaining support while customers transitioned to newer technologies."
Another factor influencing this decision was international roaming. Some customers visiting the US relied on circuit-switched voice calls over the 2G network due to a lack of VoLTE capability. T-Mobile collaborated with its global roaming partners over the past two and a half years to ensure that no customers would experience service disruption, whether for voice or data.
With the necessary preparations in place, T-Mobile believes the time has come to retire the 2G network. The company had previously discontinued its 3G services in 2022 and also phased out Sprint's LTE network after acquiring Sprint in 2020.
