Verizon Won't Activate Old 3G Phones Anymore

Don’t bother Verizon with your old, decrepit phone from 2010.

The nation’s largest carrier won’t activate 3G devices anymore. You’ll need a phone or tablet with 4G LTE connectivity for Verizon to grant access. While the carrier hasn’t made an announcement about this, it did give us fair warning. Everyone knew this day would eventually be here as recently as last fall, as noted by Droid Life.

Here’s what a Verizon spokesperson said this week:

“For several years we’ve been publicly saying that our 3G CDMA network will remain available through the end of 2019. Virtually all traffic on our network is on our 4G LTE network.

To facilitate a smooth transition to 4G LTE capable products and services, we are no longer allowing devices that are not 4G LTE capable to be activated on our network.”

By the way, Verizon stopped sell devices for its 3G network long ago. Even the flip phones in its lineup rely on the fast, reliable 4G LTE network. So you shouldn’t be surprised in the slightest that Verizon is turning away 3G devices.

The 4G LTE network operated by Big Red is often ranked the best in the United States, anyway.

Verizon also has a 5G network in development; therefore, you can’t expect the carrier to maintain all these networks at the same time when there are better alternatives for customers to use.

Now go on, get with the times if you’ve been under a rock and have resisted 4G LTE connectivity. We promise its fast, consistent, and nationwide.