4 ms·

Devils advocate: So how many years should a company continue to support old technologies? 3G was first released in 2002 (20 years ago) [0] 4G was 2010 (12 ye

Devils advocate: So how many years should a company continue to support old technologies? 3G was first released in 2002 (20 years ago) [0] 4G was 2010 (12 years ago), which was the successor to 3G (though I realized "4G" is a debated term) [1] To put this into perceptive, Samsung/Google don't even support their cellphones older than about 2 years old. Now I'm not suggesting a shorter support cycle, but 20 years seems more than fair. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G

yakak 5y ago
I don't know what devil you are representing? The assertion is that you can buy a new 4G phone today and get booted off their network for using it because it is not on a list of phone models they sold.
- tiffanyh 5y ago
  It's not an entirely accurate statement. I can also buy a brand "new" telegraph today from Amazon for $10. Should carriers still support something that was created 100 years ago?
  - username190 5y ago
    You can buy a phone with the latest technology in it, designed and built to tomorrow's specification; and AT&T still won't support it, unless the manufacturer has paid them to certify it and put it on this list[0]. Very few people are advocating that they keep 3G around using 5x5MHz of spectrum for little gain; people are just advocating that they not limit consumers from using the supported device of their choice regardless of whether it's on the list. [0] https://www.att.com/idpassets/images/support/pdf/Devices-Working-on-ATT-Network.pdf https://www.att.com/idpassets/images/support/pdf/Devices-Wor...
  - kefyras 5y ago
    >Should carriers still support something that was created 100 years ago? No one is saying ATT should continue operating their 3G network. On what grounds are they terminating subscriptions? Also, there's more than just Apple/Samsung/Google. Operators are shutting off 3G, but keeping 2G alive for a while longer for crap that's abundant, and doesn't need anything more anyway.
toast0 5y ago
Leaving a small sliver of 2G service would have avoided obsoleting a lot of devices. Support emergency calls, very low data rate applications, and play an announcement if someone tries to make a call "we're sorry, your phone sucks, or we're too lazy to let it provision a VoLTE profile, so buy something new if you want to talk"
- tiffanyh 5y ago
  My home alarm company made all kinds of complaints because they had to upgrade the modem in my home alarm notification service to be 4G.

yakak 5y ago

I don't know what devil you are representing? The assertion is that you can buy a new 4G phone today and get booted off their network for using it because it is not on a list of phone models they sold.

tiffanyh 5y ago
It's not an entirely accurate statement. I can also buy a brand "new" telegraph today from Amazon for $10. Should carriers still support something that was created 100 years ago?
- username190 5y ago
  You can buy a phone with the latest technology in it, designed and built to tomorrow's specification; and AT&T still won't support it, unless the manufacturer has paid them to certify it and put it on this list[0]. Very few people are advocating that they keep 3G around using 5x5MHz of spectrum for little gain; people are just advocating that they not limit consumers from using the supported device of their choice regardless of whether it's on the list. [0] https://www.att.com/idpassets/images/support/pdf/Devices-Working-on-ATT-Network.pdf https://www.att.com/idpassets/images/support/pdf/Devices-Wor...
- kefyras 5y ago
  >Should carriers still support something that was created 100 years ago? No one is saying ATT should continue operating their 3G network. On what grounds are they terminating subscriptions? Also, there's more than just Apple/Samsung/Google. Operators are shutting off 3G, but keeping 2G alive for a while longer for crap that's abundant, and doesn't need anything more anyway.

toast0 5y ago

Leaving a small sliver of 2G service would have avoided obsoleting a lot of devices. Support emergency calls, very low data rate applications, and play an announcement if someone tries to make a call "we're sorry, your phone sucks, or we're too lazy to let it provision a VoLTE profile, so buy something new if you want to talk"

tiffanyh 5y ago
My home alarm company made all kinds of complaints because they had to upgrade the modem in my home alarm notification service to be 4G.