3G shutdown, your 4G device too... | Dirt Report

[@saberint]

Last week my wife was in the back of the ambulance with my mum. Every time she called me to update me, she had to listen to this warning message. How ironic, in an ambulance being taunted with the fact that soon she will not be able to call the ambulance...

[@glennboyd939]

I accuse the telecommunications minister of bribery. Who profits from forcing millions of Australians to buy new phones? The briber.

[@Tonka-T...]

The telecommunications minister will gag you under the new "I'm butt hurt and therefore it's misinformation law" welcome to China.

[@leopoldpoppenberger8692]

Denying you the right to live.

[@paulstubbs7678]

Nothing to do with the government, they don't provide the cell service, if the service that supports your phone is gone, then it's never going to work, no matter how much crying you do.

[@rinzler9775]

Should not be be suing the phone company - sue the Australian government for deliberately removing support.

[@larrykelly-kf5pp]

It’s the telcos that sold / “ upgraded” billions of phones knowing 3G was getting switched off. And we’re again very careless. Phones designed and manufactured by them. As if their data/ privacy carelessness wasn’t enough

[@rinzler9775]

@@larrykelly-kf5pp 3G shouldn't be switched off.

[@lukehart7225]

@@rinzler9775 so my iPhone 16 won’t be working?

[@rinzler9775]

@@lukehart7225 you would hope it should work. Maybe 🤔

[@lukehart7225]

@@rinzler9775 cheers man! I should be safe thanks hope you are too

[@kizzjd9578]

I find it absolute madness that 10 years ago I could go 60-75km offshore and use the internet or call someone on 2g/3g. Now with 4g and 5g, I lose signal about 30-40kms away and if I do have limited signal, I cant even send a text message.

[@BorisaComputers]

lol its all planned

[@JimmyCall]

Clearly it's about data bandwidth not phone calls. Most just want phone priority.

[@kizzjd9578]

@@JimmyCall no, 3g used to work great out wide, now i only get 4g 20km in closer and its still very hit and miss.

[@langdons2848]

Sadly it's just the physics of the situation. Lower frequencies (used by 2G, 3G) travel further (but carry less data). Higher frequencies (used for 4G, 5G) have a shorter effective range and don't penetrate as well. Telcos don't care about regional areas (and only grudgingly provide service there). Their money is in the cities and they think that 5G will make them more money so the rest of us get screwed.

[@leopoldpoppenberger8692]

There will anger ,buying not working goods ,you can ask by law to get your money back as Australians you are entitled for a refund.

[@tonipwneroni9846]

This is a blatant cash grab. There should be a class action lawsuit. This is not okay. All telcos should have to conform to an international standard for bandwidths and networks.

[@George-k6o9t]

Welcome to the world of CAPITALISTS where the aim is to make ways to maximize the profits of corporations at the expense of the public.

[@europeanconfidence32]

@@tonipwneroni9846 Exactly they could have solved it with an appropriate app or apps that could use WiFi calling without a sim card.

[@europeanconfidence32]

Exactly they could have solved it with an app supporting WiFi calling without a sim

[@AverageLama]

Australia has undertaken *3* previous network shutdowns with AMPS (2000), CDMA (2008) and GSM (2017). The 3G shutdown for 2024 is of no interest or consequence for virtually all Australians. The 3G shutdown has to be completed to ensure the 4G/5G mobile network is to be effective, reliable and grows with the needs of Australian society. Just like the end of the Australian 1990s 2G GSM network in 2017, 99.9% of the population will not even notice that the obsolete 2000s 3G network was shutdown the morning after the event takes place. All handsets purchased locally from the carrier retail shops in Australia since January 2019 are fully 4G compliant.

[@tonipwneroni9846]

@@AverageLama it's almost like you didn't watch the video at all.

[@aaronkhowell]

It will be interesting to see what the outcome of the first claim under Australian consumer law is. Any phone currently on sale that does not properly support VoLTE on all Australian networks is not fit for sale, meaning the consumer is, probably, entitled to a replacement or a refund. No carrier or phone manufacturer could possibly claim that they were not aware that this was coming within the reasonable life of their device. Therefore they have knowingly released a faulty product.

[@platapussy_6942]

Not likely as it was perfectly functional at time of sale and was caused by an external factor. Sad to say unless you sue your phone manufacturer your getting nothing.

[@AverageLama]

Australia has undertaken *3* previous network shutdowns with AMPS (2000), CDMA (2008) and GSM (2017). The 3G shutdown for 2024 is of no interest or consequence for virtually all Australians. The 3G shutdown has to be completed to ensure the 4G/5G mobile network is to be effective, reliable and grows with the needs of Australian society. Just like the end of the Australian 1990s 2G GSM network in 2017, 99.9% of the population will not even notice that the obsolete 2000s 3G network was shutdown the morning after the event takes place. All handsets purchased locally from the carrier retail shops in Australia since January 2019 are fully 4G compliant. Enjoy!

[@chickenmanicmrt1705]

​@@AverageLama if only it was that simple this time round, having everyone rely on a none standard practice so there is no benchmark is a terrible idea and if we did not delay the process most electrical meters would have stopped functioning remote driving up a massive cost to the infrastructure. This was not notes until people started yelling about the dangers of removing 3g

[@chocolate_squiggle]

@@AverageLama You're clearly ignorant of many facts.

[@chocolate_squiggle]

@@AverageLama VoLTE was not a part of the 4G spec. So while handsets may be '4G compliant' - it DOES NOT mean they all support VoLTE, let alone a variant of VoLTE that is supported by all carriers. And then there are some VoLTE capable phones that still fall back to 3G for emergency number calls. There's a reason it has been delayed and it should be delayed again. Previous shutdowns were clearer. This one has been a rushed incompetent mess.

[@geoffgeoff143]

Emergency calling will be the big issue. Will Telstra be sued when someone dies

[@markarca6360]

@@geoffgeoff143 Also Vodafone Australia, as well as Optus.

[@set3777]

Simpler for Emergency Services to start supporting calls even from Whatsapp. In that case, all 4G/5G phones and even "tablets with 4G/LTE" will be able to make Emergency calls.

[@rubikmonat6589]

@@geoffgeoff143 Yes , they will, The Universal Service Obligation covers this.

[@TheSnowLeopard]

Having no mobile access is arguably more harmful than blocking a fully functional VoLTE device (that can call emergency numbers) simply because the list of compatibility is incomplete and inaccurate.

[@alanc6781]

@@set3777 What about all those people who do not use these social media? Not everybody does, you know.

[@walsakaluk1584]

In these modern times, where one is obliged to own a smart phone with internet access to communicate with the government, that same government should supply these devices and internet access at the treasury's expense. I don't ever remembering that it was compulsory to have a fixed line in your home let alone your pocket. It's taxation by other means.

[@stitchilalu]

Australia is the worst country to do this. There is so much open land that only has 2g and 3g connection. 4g and 5g can't make it far enough to reach these areas. Such a large percentage of the population live rurally.

[@downtoearth1950]

Same as when the CDMA network was closed

[@mikethebloodthirsty]

This is literally insanity.

[@BorisaComputers]

no its the stage show

[@harrisonchan9573]

It's even crazier some people are justifying these stupid decisions

[@Βόρειο_Σέλας]

First they get rid of the copper cables that work regardless of power failure, now they get rid of ability to dial 000. I thought telecommunications are essential services. Whats next?

[@peoplelikeus3684]

Looks slightly ominous, doesnt it.

[@peoplelikeus3684]

Combined this with the looming energy crisis in AU, it concerns me that our govt isnt on the ball and may be contributing to the problems Australia already has.

[@Βόρειο_Σέλας]

@@peoplelikeus3684 Their priorities lie elsewhere, next election should sort this out.

[@TimberWulfIsHere]

Copper is dated.

[@andrewwarcup684]

And tower batteries only last four hours if the power goes out.

[@David-d4k9k]

We live in the country. 3G/4/g is still hopeless with heaps of no reception areas. It’s Ok and reliable if you live near a major city or highway, but out in the country analogue was better. As far as NBN goes, that simply doesn’t exist outside the 60kph zone of country towns. We still rely on ADSL. Comms are still primitive in Australia outside of the city.

[@gemcruiser6082]

Agreed. Intermittent NBN with hourly drop outs which means Intermittent VoLTE. 4G has 22km range before next service which is 330km away. I am 600 metres from the Telsra mobile tower but have to go outside to make calls. At least I have a Satphone for my emergency calls or I drive to the hospital which is only 750 metres away. In my house, Telstra doesn't work, Optus does, nearest Vodafone is 560km away. Calls to the Police are dealt with 560 km away. Why would I bother ringing the emergency number? That's a luxury for city people.

[@MrSwaggie1]

@@David-d4k9k we live 60kms from Melbourne cbd and we don’t have any mobile signal. All our calls are made in house thru our nbn cable (wifi calling). Go outside and the call drops out.

[@-Trinite-]

If my phones get bricked I think I'm just going to not have a phone. I can't be bothered to spend hundreds on new phones.

[@shanepatrick641]

@@-Trinite- or just buy a new feature phone from Nokia, if it works with the Australian phone network.

[@paradiselost9946]

@@shanepatrick641 key word here...."BUY"... why the hell should i have to BUY a new device at all? what i have works perfectly fine. so why should i be forced to replace it? at my own cost? what happens to the old one? just toss it in the bin, is cool! yay, commercialism! i experienced nokia with cortana nonsense... no thanks. give me a 3210. i dont WANT a touch screen. i dont NEED "apps"... i want a PHONE to make PHONE CALLS.

[@johnwhorfin5150]

yeah just get a pager or maybe not

[@George-k6o9t]

Exactly! 100% agreed - except that these days, the government has been moving more and more services into mobile phones. It's annoying.

[@George-k6o9t]

@@paradiselost9946 I agree with you 100%. Why should we be forced into making phone companies richer while contributing to landfill and INFLATION - which the government keeps harping over and telling us to spend less? Our bank accounts do not magically fill up and for many retirees especially those who are self-funded from their savings, where is the extra money coming from or the unemployed who have to rely on what they have already and cannot go out to buy new stuff?

[@davidabulafia7145]

Where are the greenie complaining about the increase in e-waste by this program.

[@europeanconfidence32]

They've been paid to shut up by big business or govt

[@mnj640]

They live on their phones like nearly everyone else. They'll say shit

[@jonbrandjes9024]

@@mnj640 they can't because their old Android will not be able to connect to the internet anymore 😂

[@TheSnowLeopard]

I am a greenie and I have complained to the AMCA via their recent public consultation that fully working and compliant VoLTE phones are likely to be blocked due to telcos not being able to accurately determine whether these phones are compliant or not.

[@darkstars-torpedoes-of-truth]

They're busy supporting terrorist groups.

[@europeanconfidence32]

The jokes on them, how are they going to track and trace us if we don't have phones that work? Back to making phone calls inside phone boxes.

[@kellysouter4381]

Problem.. Australia Post no longer works. How do I get my bills on time without email on my phone? Otherwise I'm fine with that.

[@SuzieHQ72]

@@kellysouter4381request paper bills.

[@heather13267]

@@europeanconfidence32 love this !

[@europeanconfidence32]

​@@kellysouter4381 Use a computer or a tablet that hass internet access

[@cathyjacobs1042]

Phone boxes appear to be slowly disappearing also

[@bzx2k9]

What I don't understand, is if its a profiling issue on the device, why don't the telco's release the profiles to all manufacturers to ensure that all devices that actually do support VoLTE support it correctly for every country? It could easily be pushed out in an OTA update. Or why not allow end users to load the profiles and force telcos to provide it to the device users? What about the international tourists who arrive every day and just pick up a prepaid sim expecting it to work on their international phone? It works in every other country, why doesn't it work here? I also purchased a Xiaomi 14 Ultra a few months ago when I was in Taiwan and its the latest flagship phone with exact same specs (or slightly better) than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and I've been told it will not work in Australia once 3G shuts down. Its a brand new current generation device FFS, why would it not work??? The legislation surrounding all this just seems wrong and entirely mismanaged by all involved.

[@ChrisJohannsen]

Yeah I got a Xiaomi 14 ultra too and returned it to Amazon UK as soon as I heard about this stuff. Great phone, better than any local options, but too risky.

[@paulstubbs7678]

All it should need is an update from Samsung, are they useless?

[@davidyoung3237]

As pat rightly puts in his “ public service announcement “ - which is true because no one else in authority is telling us this vital stuff- the phone juggernauts just want us to buy more phones it’s so wrong but that’s all it is a money grab.

[@pooheadlou]

​@paulstubbs7678 yes! But on purpose!

[@xander1756]

What I've learnt, regarding big business, if I judge something is irrational, it can point to intentional action to make more money and\or seize more control of something. Big business has a long history of ripping others off to make more money, and I've no problem theorising it's at the top of their business model list. It's an efficient way to acquire money. So many of them, big business hierarchy, have no problem with immoral, disrespectful and dishonest behaviour to feed their greed addiction.

[@anniebooo]

Hi, sounds right. Im a Telco professional (36 years), and the competence and care of a Telco is the inverse of 1) The monopoly status, and 2) MVNO marketing budget. Best regards, Annie

[@chunkysalad9650]

I have had many time working forestry where the only service i could get was 3g. This isnt going to go well.

[@lukeclifton4392]

From my recent experience Optus’s 5G gave greater reception than even their 3G network in remote/rural areas. Given that Optus is Australia’s largest provider of 3G service to EFTPOS, telematics, medical and backup services… and their prolific investment into cell towers; I believe Optus will not only hold onto 3G in the foreseeable future, but have already exceeded Telstra for coverage in rural areas across 3G/4G and 5G, whilst providing the fastest 5G.

[@James_Knott]

This is a carrier deployment issue, not 3G vs 4G or 5G. If they put in 4G or 5G, on the same band as 3G was, you would get similar coverage. Of course, it will also be possible to use lower frequency bands than were ever used for 3G for even greater coverage.

[@ozzybloke4830]

@@lukeclifton4392 This sounds like an ad for Optus. their 5g has bugger all coverage so far just major city areas mostly and alot of people have been switching 5g off for internet because they get better speeds on 4g.

[@TAVOAu]

Regional SA here, and decent (not fantastic) Optus 4G coverage at home. But, between towns, my not so old phone switches back to 3G. Nearest 5G service is about 60km away, so even though I have a 5G capable device, with a 5G ready SIM, I'm often left still relying on 3G in some areas.

[@sandyfoot]

Especially when the thousands of wind turbines in western Victoria (without the fire safety component installed) start spitting molten metal for miles into the bush and all the rural residents are stranded without phones as well as electricity. Idiots at every level.

[@stevegreen2432]

I will be first in line to start the class action!!!

[@McKennaBates]

When this shutdown inevitably leads to loss of life because of not being able to call emergency services, that's when the protests will start.

[@nigellangsford1735]

This rendered my GPS paid service inoperable 😢 not to mention my router, feel ripped off.

[@mackes8839]

are we going to be compensated for buying a new phone

[@SteveWithers]

Why would Australian regulators allow such careless, negligent changes?

[@grayamdelaney7044]

Bribery & corruption , just follow the money .

[@AntiCoruptionCentral]

Because, on a proper analysis, they're not "Australian". Their allegiance is to foreign powers.

[@lowkeyconvert8971]

they themselves are incompetent and technologically illiterate.

[@TruthWarrior1]

I am looking forward to the day when these mobile service providers have decent coverage like they did in the CDMA and the 1st generation digital mobile format. The problem is every time they move to a new generation coverage becomes increasingly poor.

[@akuma2124]

Its been about 15-ish years since I worked in the industry, so Im probably really outdated with how the progression of this tech has gone. Working for both Optus and Telstra, I remember 3G was still a lot more reliable than 4G at the time, in terms of if you were out in low laying areas or just in a coverage black spot, and the coverage maps both had on their websites showed how much more reliable 3G was (coverage wise). In those years (and the ones that followed) it was easy to switch in phone settings to only use 3G when I'd have issues loading websites under 4G (even though it was slower, it worked rather than do nothing). Has the tech improved to be reliable in this sense to actually take over? I remember for a really long time, CDMA was the only reliable rural area service that only Telstra offered, and that got shut down even though nothing was overlappingly better at the time (from memory).

[@paulaus]

It's down to the frequency bands. On launch 4G was mid-band and was not using the low-band that 3G had access too. Increasingly mid-band 4G has been moved to these lower frequencies and once 3G is gone then they can fully utilise these low band channels

[@ProcrastinationsandInterruptio]

Thank you for explaining this so thoroughly. I am wondering how many people are gonna lose jobs, miss opportunities, lose social media profiles, & end up not being able to connect with foreign family members via wireless communications for this. The questions & concerns seem endless.

[@EmeraldHill-vo1cs]

Yes well, i have a zte fone that accepts 3g ,4g, but not volte? All it shows besides great reception that i cant use, is a very red emergency dial out for sos, talk about bloody confusing.

[@iangreen180]

That SMS check keeps telling me my phone is affected, but when I’ve called and checked that my phone does have LTE and the right frequency bands they tell me just to ignore the warning. Meanwhile, I already bought a new phone overseas several weeks ago, and I need the profile to add myself, as whenever I swap the SIM, and even a borrowed Telstra SIM, it keeps telling me “emergency calls only”! I checked the specifications carefully when I bought it, in anticipation of the 3G shutdown. But in the phone’s configuration it lists every country in the world EXCEPT Australia! I have both my phones in Developer Mode, and I did set network profile according to instructions I found online, to no avail.

[@Boxuga]

i dont think the text message thing is actually much other then querying the imei number and seeing the model and comparing if its compatible list

[@ThePepperford]

Check today 😊

[@jm6604-c4d]

The responsibility for this mess lies solely with the standards committees who specified how the systems should work. I attended one of the sessions as an observer back in 2g days and it was clear that the standards were being set by, and for the convenience of the network equipment suppliers. The phone manufacturers had to make the phones work with multiple systems variations as the network manufacturers could not agree to all use exactly the same signalling schemes.

[@TheWolfHowling]

I would find it incredible frustrating, to say the least, having a new $1000+ 5G compatible phone, that had the power to record & edit 4k 60fps video, but can't complete a simple voice call. All because somebody coloured outside the lines and our pocket supercomputer is missing a little bit of code that would allow it to interface with the carrier's VoLTE service. Code that I should think would be simple to load on to devices.

[@AverageLama]

All phones brought after 2019 in Australia are VoLTE capable, the phone you described is almost certainly VoLTE capable. Why complain?

[@TheWolfHowling]

@@AverageLama Except when it's not because the carrier didn't implement the official reference standard but their own interpretation of VoLTE

[@minibrownliger]

I find it incredibly frustrating that my 2 year old $500 5G compatible phone, which works on all 4G bands used in Australia and works with VoLTE, will be blocked from service by every provider in the country because it relies on 3g for emergency calls.

[@graemejoyce5629]

I wonder how much non-mobile hardware will fail to connect .. e.g. medical eqpt. .. many companies, utilities, vendors, transport will be scrambling... If they do a broad switch off rather than small areas.. Oooo crap!

[@grayamdelaney7044]

From my research , $ wise , mobile devices are just the tip of the iceberg .

[@theairstig9164]

Electricity meters and a lot of stuff you didn’t know had a 3G modem in it. Looking at you Toyota

[@kyleadelaide]

Subarus between 2015 and 2017 use 3G in their data communication device. In the US when the shutdown happened the device would try and contact the server over and over until it ran the battery down. People were waking up to go to work and finding their car battery dead. That will happen here too

[@skozzy1968]

Rules made by someone that has interests in these companies involved and the profits they can make. Gone are the days when someone was looking out for the people and now looking out for personal profit.

[@petersmits6951]

If you want to keep your old phone just carry around a 5g wifi modem with you an enable wifi calling on your phone but then you might as well just buy a new phone

[@samlazar574]

Stores can say that if you get no more OS updates, then we can not help you.

[@mattfarrar5472]

This is absolutely ridiculous - I bought a 2x 5g Sony Xperia 1's, I have have $3200 worth of scrap, called my telco and they will be blocked I just have to wear that? screwed over what can I do??

[@glennboyd939]

Class action.

[@TheOneWhoMightBe]

Similar here. i have a bunch of Sony's that will be basically e-waste despite being otherwise perfectly finctional. Even if you root the phone and install the correct profiles so that it is 100% compliant they'll still be blocked.

[@ozzybloke4830]

3498 only seems to check the imei number of the phone and I think they have basically written off international models that can work on VOLTE with the correct MBN installed for the network your using. I have a OnePlus 6 with the correct MBN installed for Optus, VOLTE and VOWIFI both work and the phone is IMS registered. I don't know of any way to test if emergency calls will try and fall back to 3g or why it would if VOLTE functions correctly. The government having telco's block phones is stupid too, so now not only can they not call emergency services but they can't call anyone else for help either.

[@pagophilus]

They update things. SMSing 3 to 3498 first came up with telling me my device wasn't a phone. A couple of months later they tell me my phone model and that it will be fine.

[@TimberWulfIsHere]

Emergency calls work on my op12

[@pagophilus]

@@TimberWulfIsHere They work on my OnePlus Nord 3 as well.

[@TheSnowLeopard]

You can test for emergency calls if you use a logging app like NetMonster that shows what band the phone is connected on and call it for a few seconds.

[@TheSnowLeopard]

@@pagophilus It is still inaccurate for my phone and this is likely for many less common models.

[@Eeyeore360]

Telstra wouldn't tell me if a potential phone would work after the shutdown. They wanted the IMEI? Number first. I couldn't get that unless I already owned the phone so I was at an impass. Telstra chat and help attempted to direct me to their shopfront about a half dozen times during that chat to sell me a new Samsung/apple. So mad, especially as how my 1 yr old phone will be useless. The elderly are gonna be effected terribly no matter how many times they push the date back

[@martinathome296]

So can someone explain why the phone manufacturers cant be forced to roll out updates to fix the 4G/5G phones that should work but will not?

[@user-kc1tf7zm3b]

There is no legislation forcing the phone vendors to update the software on their phone to enable robust VoLTE support. The government cannot legislate everything. Caveat emptor.

[@AverageLama]

Australia has undertaken *3* previous network shutdowns with AMPS (2000), CDMA (2008) and GSM (2017). The 3G shutdown for 2024 is of no interest or consequence for virtually all Australians. The 3G shutdown has to be completed to ensure the 4G/5G mobile network is to be effective, reliable and grows with the needs of Australian society. Just like the end of the Australian 1990s 2G GSM network in 2017, 99.9% of the population will not even notice that the obsolete 2000s 3G network was shutdown the morning after the event takes place. All handsets purchased locally from the carrier retail shops in Australia since January 2019 are fully 4G compliant.

[@grayamdelaney7044]

@@AverageLama And how many carrier retail shops do you own or are being bribed by to repeat your lying blurb ? You have already admitted to over a million devices being redundant & that's closer to 5% ( about 19.5 million users in 2024) so don't come around here with your .1% lies . I am getting sick of your obviously vested interest driven , robotic cockroach letter type replies .

[@pantoqwerty]

@@AverageLama great way to not answer the question.

[@heather13267]

Great question

[@bofty]

Imagine buying a 5G phone that only calls on 3G 😂

[@Ниггерфиш]

3G just started being taken down here in Notrhern Finland and people are being left without any cellular connectivity - including my parents. Calls getting cut off, calls not going through, no internet at all... It sucks.

[@darkstars-torpedoes-of-truth]

I brought a brand new phone 4 weeks ago, it will be useless after the 28th of October, great deal.

[@McKennaBates]

Get a refund. You have every right to do so.

[@darkstars-torpedoes-of-truth]

@@McKennaBates The shop I brought it from, which I won't name said to ignore the messages. However after reading James Parker's latest update, it appears that telcos are arbitrarily blocking phones they deem incompatible. If this occurs and my phone is blocked, then I will proceed to try for a refund.

[@SimonTAMG]

*bought

[@darkstars-torpedoes-of-truth]

@@SimonTAMG Thanks, that makes a huge difference in the situation.

[@SimonTAMG]

@@darkstars-torpedoes-of-truth most people appreciate it, just say thank you and actually learn from it or laugh and say “I always get those two confused! Can you teach me the difference please in an easy to remember way?”, but you do you 👍🏼

[@leighburkinshaw]

I live on a farm 50km from a major nsw town. For 20+yr of mobile phones i have had full service between town and farm. Over the last 3 years it seems every 3mnth or so the service gets worse, and worse and worse. We out her have updated to latest phones etc but now almost zero service from city to farm. Im sick to death of these grub telco's.

[@user-xs5dp4gw8e]

Meshtastic low power private network

[@Bazz24697]

Thanks for the heads up on this man WTF always not in the interests of the people 🙄

[@philipheels822]

I am in my 70's. I don't have my smart phone connected to the internet. I use my phone for private communications ONLY and often do not take it out of the house when I go shopping. I believe the emergency services are relied upon far too much and do not intend to use it. Phones are a utensil, NOT a requirement for life.

[@MPE-iX]

Thank you for explaining what Telstra seems unable to do. So wha happens to international visitors that bring their uncompliant phones here? Possibly the worst implementation of a project in telecommunications history!

[@dalechenoweth915]

If a government elected by the people worked in our best interest, they would have made a law to ensure that telcos who want to shut down a network, they must ensure that all existing systems are catered for in the new system. Put simply, make 000 work on 4G.

[@MaccaAi]

I believe a software patch could fix this problem for calling emergency, I guess that doesn't line the pockets of greedy corporations

[@wobblyboost]

I was listening, but I kept hearing millions of tons of suddenly obsolete phones self combusting in landfills for some reason. Hopefully grandma can ring me to ask me to call emergency for her, or send a pidgeon.

[@wolfferoni]

If she can't make emergency calls, she won't be able to ring you at all. So pigeon would be better than nothing which sounds absolutely ridiculous because it is. Gosh, surely this could've been planned and rolled out much better

[@tasmaniancaptain7768]

Back to the cb radio

[@user-xs5dp4gw8e]

Meshtastic low power private 10km radius network

[@juniperhart3208]

So there are non-compliant 4g and 5g phones being sold in Australia? I predict a huge class action.

[@erikaramirez6465]

Only a 6 year old iPhone XS Max that is saying that it will not work for 000 after October. I have a fall monitor that will not work either.

[@andymanaus1077]

I have just had two phones break in rapid succession. If this third phone gets bricked, I'm going to be without a phone because I can't afford another one.

[@glennboyd939]

Same. The new one I bought will be useless in a few days. This may be my last message 😢

[@paulstubbs7678]

I was very disappointed in that test number, it should have caused the base station and handset to perform tests to see if all was working, instead that piece of junk just looked up a database of what they thought your handset was capable of. Heck, I even called it with my iPhone in "WiFi calling" mode (as in not even using the mobile phone network) and it passed, so yeah, an absolute joke. I expect my telco to be technically switched on, and provide a real test, and if technically this is not possible, then don't provide it. Idiots.

[@Lorenzo-ew6so]

This is that confusing I feel like suing someone for selling me a phone that I can't save or protect my children in emergency situations. Looks like phones are becoming junk very quickly, why should we buy them??????? The whole idea of a mobile is that you can make an emergency call when needed that is a prime feature.

[@markillingworth1929]

When this phone stops doing what I need it for, that's it for me and phones. The internet these days is the reason for not watching TV for 10 years, it's not going to take much to ditch the internet too. Getting smashed every day with the bad news is why I cut the TV and the social media isn't far away.

[@Joshhy95]

One thing that bugs me is there's no way to test if the phone uses 3g for emergency calls without making the call. So what happens when its too late ?

[@TheSnowLeopard]

I had to call recently to report a fire and confirmed my phone does connect on VoLTE, despite the SMS check stating it may not be compatible. But I don't see the big deal to call for a few seconds of the prerecorded message, if it means confirming your phone is functional. You can log which bands the phone connects on using NetMonster

[@SimonHowes]

3G shutdown in the UK has been disastrous. It’s difficult to get any signal to make and receive calls when in a building, and patchy 4/5G for data. At least we have 2.5G to fall back on for emergency calls.

[@PMVault]

How do you test if you can call triple zero if you know its wrong to call triple zero for no reason?

[@whophd]

There is a recorded message at the start, but yeah, it's still going to block the line which is bad if there are lots of people trying to use 000 at that moment.

[@JAK3ELEFANTSAMUEL]

@@whophd they will also likely call you back if you call and disconnect before getting through

[@glennboyd939]

Maybe we should call 000 now and pre book our emergency?😅

[@whophd]

@@JAK3ELEFANTSAMUEL I don't think so, not if you hang up before the initial recorded message gets through the first few words.

[@alibern4199]

Why do they need to turn off 3G anyway.

[@steveegan8139]

$$$

[@stevenbeck5746]

I use to work for the PMG, then Telecom Australia then Telstra and funnily enough in Mobile Networks. I quit in 1996. Back in those olden times Emergency Service calling was always high priority. What ever was planned by the Telstra engineers it had to work on Triple zero. Obviously those days are long gone and I put the blame wholly on privatization. Telecommunications should be listed as a National Security priority but of course when politicians are basically corrupt and receive backhanders then they won't take responsibility.

[@MARILYNABBERTON]

Yep, my new Sony has shutdown on Telstra network. Put the sim in another phone on a different network and no issues. When is the class action happening? Deliberate nasty action by Telstra.

[@TechManPat]

What’s the model name of the phone ?

[@MARILYNABBERTON]

Sony 1v

[@davegiles2120]

So basically my iphone 5s on Aldi mobile will be a brick in less than a month just to prevent Telstra having a dip in profits.

[@thewatcherofawesomecontent]

and it's easier to track someone on 5G then an old 3G/4G device that didn't have the spyware bundled in... Police are counting down the days lol

[@Accuaro]

Yes, no. Yes because now we gonna get "Telstra only iPhone" since it's not an open standard. EDIT: For some reason I can't reply to the idiot below, but Hugh Jeffrey did a video on this. *VoLTE is NOT a standardised system and different PHONE CARRIERS and different phones come with different VoLTE support. Telstra and Optus for example do not carry the same spec.*

[@user-kc1tf7zm3b]

⁠@@Accuaro Wrong, you idiot. As any iPhone user will tell you, 4G VoLTE support on any network is a given. And you wonder why iPhone is so popular.

[@user-kc1tf7zm3b]

Dave, just buy a more modern iPhone and be done with it. You cannot use a 2013 iPhone 5s forever.

[@Accuaro]

@@user-kc1tf7zm3b Wrong, watch Hugh Jeffreys video then come back.

[@sustainart5207]

This will be great for tourism and business You step off the plane and your phone does not work. Even China does not block 4g or 5g.

[@Tk-ou9ec]

In my area I usually only get one bar on 4G when at home and sometimes it will revert back to 3G and often when it does this,I cannot even send a simple text as it often fails to send! What’s it going to be like once 3G is switched off? Probably just a paperweight I guess. Bloody technology

[@azza0575]

I woke up a couple of weeks ago, and 90% of my contacts were gone. And a couple of hours later, the rest disappeared while I was sitting at the traffic lights.

[@pooheadlou]

Great, I just bought a new phone, and now I don't even know if that will work!

[@KyleGP]

If you bought it in Australia, it will likely work. If it was a grey import/overseas purchase, probably not.

[@gslim7337]

Michelle Roland! Ah! Now I know why I am only finding out about this now. She would be clueless on how to manage any of this. Too busy yelling "Mean hurty words are killing us all and we must make it stop"

[@PleaseGetReal]

@@gslim7337 She is an ambulance chaser by training.

[@seventyfive4899]

Except this was started in 2019 under "I don't hold a hose" Scotty from Marketing

[@James_Knott]

One Canadian company, Koodo, has implemented a $3/month charge for anyone still on the 3G network. Apparently, 3G users amount to only 2.3% of their customers and this charge is to help cover the maintenance costs. They plan to eventually shut down 3G.

[@knowname7289]

Well that explains a lot, I have 3/4g phone but cannot setup Volte in my phone, So the resellers aren't getting the Volte ? millions of phones+toxic lithium to land fill in a month..

[@CaptainKremmen]

This will be an utter disaster for tourism. Tens of thousands of visitors will have no way to use their phones. (Including losing access to their bank accounts, etc, due to not having a way to receive SMS-based 2FA messages any more.)

[@somluck2813]

@@CaptainKremmen Not 10s of thousands but millions of tourists. In it could pretty much every tourist. What are the odds that a phone set to work in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South America, Europe etc will to set to work with Telstra in Australia?

[@paulaus]

Incorrect. Roaming users are not affected by this

[@tslee8236]

I always thought LTE is a data services extension to GSM (2G) that was marketed as 2.5G decades ago.

[@glennboyd939]

This refers to VoLTE, voice over LTE

[@jec_ecart]

I love 3g. 3g is actually the best.

[@bertiesworld]

In the UK, I've been receiving messages saying my phone would stop working due to a system upgrade to 4G. Phone is still working long after the so called stop date.

[@ArthursHD]

There is not enough radio spectrum to support all standards from 2G to 5G and that is why in Latvia telcos are switching off 3G. My 5G phone with switched-on VoLTE won't use it LMT network because I use a prepaid SIM. But building so much e-waste is a crime :(

[@Colours01-c5r]

Kinda sounds like another tiny branch in poulation “ reduction”.

[@sarahbatsford4791]

Looks that way❤

[@KevinSolway]

This can be incredibly disruptive for emergency services, since the only way you can know whether you can call emergency services is to call them!

[@HonchHeado]

Yeah but you only have to call it for 2 seconds before it starts ringing when it says you have called emergency triple zero we are transferring your call. That hasn't put the call through to the call center yet but will show if it connects it doesn't clog it up.

[@user-kc1tf7zm3b]

Singapore has already completely done away with 3G and is reliant on 4G VoLTE and 5G VoNR for voice calls, yet the sky has certainly not fallen and Singaporeans are still easily able to dial 995 for emergencies as they did before. New Zealand will follow Australia’s 4G/5G path as well in 2025. If Singapore, Australia and New Zealand - all advanced and successful economies - are pursuing the same 4G/5G strategy, then it has to be rational, beneficial and efficient. 🇸🇬 🇦🇺 🇳🇿

[@KevinSolway]

@@user-kc1tf7zm3b In Singapore you HAVE to comply with everything the government says. No matter what they say. If they want to block all non-conforming phones, they will do so, and nobody will question it.

[@glennboyd939]

Do we call 000 now and pre book our emergency?😅

[@HonchHeado]

@@glennboyd939 Well in Vic you wont get an ambulance anyway they will send you a taxi 🤣 Its good most taxi's now have defibrillators and the drivers have first aid and are trained to use them you want to pray the taxi that comes has one lol

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

Australia should never have shut down the analogue mobile network. Only someone who didn't care about rural areas could have done that.

[@simonm1528]

I was in Perth and 5g was being used. Full bars of signal and internet was incredibly slow and wouldn't work at all in the shopping center.

[@lukehart7225]

I’m in Perth too my phone better work after 1st November

[@stefanrz_]

In Romania 3G will be shutdown but we have 2G/4G/5G and you still call on 2G.

[@poglavicas]

Here in Europe 2G networks will be kicking arround for years to come, not just because of 112 emergancy calls, but VoLTE roaming as well. So many networks, so many NVMOs, and VoLTE. It's simply a complete mess.

[@ElfAzzid]

No, this isn't true. My Fossibot is a VoLTE 4G phone. It was blocked 5 days after the shut down. 2 weeks later, with no SIM, no WiFi it STILL connects to 000. (I literally just tried it again before making this comment.) This was simply the teleco providers arbitrarily blocking phones they don't sell.

[@lukeclifton4392]

Im in a rural area and switched from Telstra to Optus because Optus has far better coverage than Telstra now, and that’s not just in my locality. I recently upgraded to an iPhone 15 and about a month ago (for a week or so) was getting 5G coverage in areas that previously only had Optus 3G coverage and didn’t get any Telstra coverage at all. The Optus 5G coverage was amazing whilst it lasted, it has since been switched off (the 4G is still better than Telstra’s non-existent coverage though). Optus must have been doing testing with 5G in the area, but I can’t wait for it to be reactivated.

[@logical_volcel]

This should be the publics queue to ditch technology

[@user-xs5dp4gw8e]

Meshtastic low power private network

[@CorpAus]

Excellent video mate! Just another action to con people out of their hard earned cash in the name of the 'economy'.

[@leonkernan]

Hugh Jeffreys did a video on this over the weekend too.

[@TechManPat]

That’s right I saw that, it will be affecting a lot of people

[@Mproud661]

3G will be gone tomorrow. Rest in peace

[@dianafarmer5445]

I'm completely confused now. I also have a fairly recent Samsung, an S9, I'm definitely not going to buy a new one this year. If need be, I'll manage with my Landline. I still have it. Is it just me or is it that the more Technology we have we're going backwards?

[@lukehart7225]

Same! I keep seeing this 3G closing on KZbin ads, I recently purchased the new iPhone 16 this year and wasn’t aware of it. So my phone better work still

[@aperitifs]

Why not copy the UK and leave 2g running

[@TechManPat]

Good point… yet here we are

[@aperitifs]

@@TechManPat leaving a 3g radio on every tower only for emergency would be a public pleaser.

[@aperitifs]

@@TechManPat The electric bill will drop by half for every tower when 3g is shut down.. ( and that cost per week per tower is massive) I totally understand why they are shutting down.

[@TechManPat]

Wow okay good info, that’s quite significant

[@aperitifs]

@@TechManPat go to a public oval with mobile towers , you will see the stacks of air-conditioning at the back of the plant room . Some have the electric box unlocked, they use heaps of electricity.. battery backup would be less than 5 minutes.

[@dar3726]

Just found out from Optus today that my 4g phone will not long work when 3g is shut down. The lady had the cheek to say that my phone is not a really 4g, dispite the signal indicator at the top showing 4g LTE.

[@radohoffer]

Can't they develop an emergency app for Android and iOS?

[@thetriumphsprint]

@@radohoffer there is. It's called Emergency Plus. You can call 000 etc but it will redirect the call to the phone system.

[@ezlow1065]

Question does it also mean that wifi hot spot will stop working as well? Its all a bit techo for me! 🤤

[@SuzieHQ72]

In other words, you need to buy a new phone. Update again. Wake up! Stop updating stop buying new phones. If we don’t participate they can’t keep pushing.

[@harrisonchan9573]

The problem is, they know how dependent we are on having functional mobile phones. It's either we have functioning mobile phones or we heavily inconvenience our lives in attempts to protest.

[@angelaoliver7776]

I just purchased a new phone 3 weeks ago, they've already cut it off on the 8th, I received a new sim card, and now they tell me it's going to be cut off on the 15th again. Where I purchased my phone tells me oh it's your carrier. When what do you know it's the damn phone.

[@waren3015]

Australia is now a FACIST country! Goodluck

[@eat_ze_bugs]

Many Australians are planning or have begun to exit the country

[@XtrovertedHermit]

i Live in remote place in australia and 3G is already gone couple months ago, my phone still works, its a 2 month Xiaomi.....

[@measurmentoftreatment]

My Honor View 20 just stopped to work on optus. It's suports VoLTE and I was always using 4g+! But today 29th of October it doesn't work. Now I have to pay for new device! I'm so freaking angry!!!

[@greentext2345]

I love how they are blocking my phone from all calls even though 000 works. I wont be buying an Australian sold phone so guess ill just die if I need to call 000.

[@grannieannie1371]

This is the first video that explained why I had to replace my phone despite being a 4g phone when they shut down the 3g network in my area. I was so pissed off.

[@dfor50]

I have a phone that has 4G and 5G and VoLTE but doesn't have the 700MHz frequency and will be switched off as non-compliant. It does have all the other Australian frequencies though.

[@HonchHeado]

You don't need B28 700mhz if your phone has VoLTE, my phone according to GSM arena doesn't have B28 yet turning off VoLTE and mobile data it switches to B28 to make voice calls and its built in no need to even turn VoLTE on. This whole thing is a scam to sell phones and get people on contracts.

[@HonchHeado]

Oh and my phone is on the list of Optus approved phones but not Voda or Telstra, yet if I use a Voda/Telstra reseller I get no message telling me phone is not supported only if using a Voda/Telstra direct sim.

[@dfor50]

@@HonchHeado Interesting. I fell for their hype as I did with covid, lol. I bought a new phone like so many other suckers.

[@letitiabeausoleil4025]

Sadly my Motorola G5 Plus was in this situ too. I had a message from Colesmobile confirming that it only works in exclusively 4G ecosystems in India, South America and the EU. Australia's 4G *secret sauce* was incompatible.

[@user-kc1tf7zm3b]

Buy an iPhone and call it a day.

[@lee8org]

How does this comply with their green initiative? To create vast amount of waste ...WHAT is The Carbon footprint of this BS exercise?

[@Lord-Sméagol]

This is just like Microsoft's ARTIFICIALLY HIGH Windows 11 minimum requirements!

[@alexandramunoz4551]

I live in Gladstone, QLD, in the city centre. I get very patchy internet and phone services. Everybody does