Some Rogers and Fido customers are furious after their phones suddenly stopped working—despite being told their devices were compatible with the network.
The issue appears tied to the ongoing 3G network shutdown, which Canadian carriers are phasing out. Devices not approved for newer tech like 4G VoLTE are being blocked. But many users insist their phones do support the network—and they’re now being forced into stores to fix something they say never should’ve happened.
One Rogers customer wrote on Reddit, “Rogers shut down my 4G phone after being adamant it is compatible. I can’t make any phone calls or anything.”
Another said he and his wife had to deal with the same issue after swapping SIM cards and speaking to support multiple times: “The line at the local Rogers store was 15+ people deep, all with the same problem.”
It’s not just Rogers. One Fido user described how their relative’s phone—bought in Canada—was suddenly disconnected just before a shift at work.
“Fido sent them a text saying their line had been disconnected. I was shocked. The phone worked yesterday.” At Best Buy, staff discovered a 3G block had been applied to the account in error.
“My relative was convinced they now had an out-of-date device and was fully prepared to be convinced to buy a new phone—which they absolutely did not need.”
Another Fido customer shared: “I waited in line for an hour at the mall. The agent removed the block, and my phone worked again in two minutes.”
Some users say they were hit with surprise charges on top of being disconnected. “Rogers suspended all my family phones—even the 5G ones—and charged me extra for an ‘incompatible phone,’” one person posted.
“It makes no difference,” said another. “The IMEI of all these phones are banned and deactivated.”
Many are accusing the carriers of forcing people to upgrade unnecessarily. “This is the worst corporate behaviour I’ve seen. They bricked a bunch of 5G phones just to run their sales pitch on people in the dark.”
A Reddit user said Fido wrongly cut off their immunocompromised relative’s phone service, almost convincing them to buy a new phone they didn’t need. They called it “predatory and malicious incompetence” and plan to demand a credit, an apology, and file a formal complaint with the CCTS.
Did you experience a compatible phone getting cut off by Rogers or Fido?
Thanks Rahul
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who's up to starting a class action law suite, they've already had many and are shameless!
You can't. Believe me I would love to blame rogers but rogers can't fix the phones that won't work if they wanted to. The problem isn't with rogers, it's with the manufacturer of the device. Looking up oneplus updates for volte will tell you this. The problem is two parts. Your device must have the hardware for VoLTE and the programming to work with the carrier(s) in your country/area. Carriers do not program devices and for devices that are not popular in North America the manufacturers don't bother.
The backbone for 3g is incredibly old and should have been shutdown long ago for a ton of reasons. All the companies are shutting it down. 3g will not exist in North America very soon.
Many of the customers affected probably notice that when they have traveled to the usa over the last 1.5-2 years they can use data but their phone calls never work. That's volte for the same reasons. The usa shut it down that long ago.
In short, it is what it is and it's not rogers fault. Rogers would be more liable if they didn't shut it down than if they did.
I have a chatr and Fido numbers and both are on separate Iphone 6S plus iphones. I went to Fido at STC and the saleswoman there said my iphone 6s plus is fine with the new VoLTE or 4G. Then, I got a message from chatr that says I made a call from a phone that is not 4G. I went to Chatr and Fido at Pacific Mall and everyone there just tells me my phone is too old for 4G even though it's showing LTE or 4G. I said it has 4G. They all say it's too old. Everyone is just interested in selling you a new phone.
Its possible this relates to an incompatible SIM card. Upgrading the $5 sim for the $10 or $20 they'll cause you to lose.