3G networks will soon disappear. The fight to update users begins

(CNN Business) — Aaron Hommell bought his iPhone 5 3G in 2014 and kept it for more than seven years, holding on to it even after the screen cracked and a long list of faster models hit the market. Then, a year ago, AT&T started sending you emails informing you that the company was shutting down its 3G network and moving its subscribers to its higher-speed 4G and 5G networks.

“I kept putting off [the upgrade] since it wasn’t my primary phone,” said Hommell, who used the iPhone as a work device for his law firm in Gulfport, Mississippi. “Finally, I got a letter saying they’d send me a phone in a few weeks. I waited and boom, there it is on my doorstep.” Hommell, who was shipped a new iPhone XR by AT&T in October, is among the small segment of those sticking to 3G who have received a free 4G phone from AT&T — which owns CNN’s parent company — before his 3G network stop working, at the end of this month.

How to access the new blazing-fast 5G networks from AT&T and Verizon

General Motors, for example, which owns OnStar, began sending over-the-air updates in October to vehicles launched in 2015, including Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac models, which may be affected by the transition. Some alarm companies are also urging customers to schedule appointments for technicians to completely replace their systems. Even with these efforts, there is a chance that some clients (and devices) will be left behind.

Source: https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/
By Samantha Murphy Kelly