Quote:Smartphones are, unfortunately, disposable pieces of technology. They’re hard to repair, have limited software support, and carriers constantly push upgrades. However, AT&T has taken things to the extreme with its latest email to customers. Using clumsy and profoundly misleading language, AT&T has advised some people with recent phones that they need to upgrade or risk losing service.
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First, the impending network upgrade to which AT&T is referring won’t happen until February 2022 — the email does not explain this. That’s when the carrier will shut off its 3G network, moving to 4G and 5G only. Bugging people to upgrade new-ish phones that will work fine for a further 18 months is questionable on its own, particularly during an unprecedented global pandemic and economic disruption, but the problem is of AT&T’s own making.

Phones like the S10e have 4G, but AT&T has chosen to only whitelist select unlocked devices for voice over LTE (VoLTE). So, when 3G shuts down, these devices will lose the ability to make calls because AT&T has arbitrarily decided it should be that way. The version of the S10e and other phones sold by AT&T will continue to work normally for the foreseeable future.

If you received this email, you don’t need to do anything right now — your phone will keep working for a while longer. Sadly, this is not the first case of AT&T intentionally misleading its customers. Who can forge the fake 5G fiasco? You can safely ignore the hard-sell in the email and upgrade at your leisure, and possibly move to a different carrier. No one would blame you.