Will your mobile phone work after July 1?

April 11, 2024

Telstra will be closing the 3G mobile phone network on June 30, 2024. This is being done to free up bandwidth to allow better 4G and 5G services. TPG/Vodafone made the switch at the end of 2023, and Optus will be doing it in September this year.

Update May 6 - Telstra have announced that the shut off date for 3G has been moved to August 31.

Bringing all the Gs into Oberon.

If you have an old 3G-only phone you won't have any option except to replace it. The change will also affect some things other than phones which rely on the 3G network, such as some EFTPOS terminals, back-to-base security systems, some agricultural equipment and some medical monitoring systems. If you use one of these you will need to contact your supplier (if they haven't contacted you yet) to see what needs to be done.

There is also the problem of range, because 4G and 5G have shorter working ranges from the towers than 3G. The way things work now is that the phone will drop back to 3G if the signal quality gets too low. The loss of 3G will certainly impact people out here in the wilderness where mobile phone towers are few and far apart.

Another potential problem that is causing some concern is that many phones automatically drop back to 3G for emergency calls (to ensure a good signal). If 3G goes, these phones will be unable to connect to 000 or 112. There is no way to test if your phone works this way, but regulators and telcos are aware of the problem and are looking at ways to get around it.

If you have a 4G capable phone you still might not be able to use it after the changeover. To make calls on the phone you need a capability called "Voice over LTE" (VoLTE) which allows the phone to use both data and voice at the same time. Any phone purchased in the last two or three years should have this, but check the manufacturer's documentation to make sure. If it's not turned on automatically there will be some method of turning it on in the phone's Settings option.

You might have seen advice to test your phone by texting "3" to 3498. This only works if you are a direct Telstra customer. The Oberon Matters mobile was purchased just a few months ago and most definitely has VoLTE but despite using the Telstra network through ALDI Mobile the test said that the phone could not be tested.

Update April 26 - The text 3 to 3498 now works for all the Telstra resellers as well. A test with ALDIMobile worked.

According to the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, these are the 25 most popular phones that will be affected, but still check even if your phone is not in the list.

• Alcatel 2038
• Alcatel OneTouch 2045
• Apple iPhone 5
• Apple iPhone 5C
• Apple iPhone 5S
• Aspera A42
• Doro PhoneEasy 623 OPTUS
• Doro 6521
• Google Pixel 2 XL
• Huawei E5331
• Huawei E5251s-2
• Huawei Y6 Prime
• Nokia 301
• Oppo A57
• Oppo F1s
• Oppo F5 Youth
• Optus X Smart
• Samsung Galaxy J1 Mini
• Samsung Galaxy S5
• ZTE Blade A0605

The following retailers use the Telstra network and all will lose 3G after June.

• ALDI Mobile
• Belong
• Boost Mobile
• Exetel
• Lycamobile
• MATE
• More
• numobile
• Superloop
• Tangerine
• Woolworths Mobile

And for Optus customers waiting for September, here are the retailers selling the Optus network

• amaysim
• Aussie Broadband
• Catch Connect
• Circles.Life
• Coles Mobile
• Dodo
• iPrimus
• Moose Mobile
• Southern Phone
• SpinTel
• Yomojo

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