Rogers is giving customers a little more time before it shuts down its 3G wireless network across Canada. Originally set to end on July 31, the company has quietly updated its website to reflect a new shutdown date, beginning August 7.
Some iPhone in Canada readers noticed the July 31 date disappeared from the Rogers 3G webpage last week, even though the Fido website still listed it. That prompted speculation that the timeline had changed. The update has since been confirmed by Rogers.
A message now on the Rogers website reads: “On August 7, we will begin retiring our 3G network across Canada.” Customers are being told they’ll receive reminders and instructions before the network is turned off in their area.
Once the 3G network is retired, phones that haven’t switched to newer networks will fall back on Rogers’ much older 2G network—if available (this is interesting). That means:
Even if your phone shows “4G” or “5G” in the corner, you could still be affected if it’s using 3G for voice calls. That’s because some devices only use 4G for data and fall back to 3G or 2G for phone calls unless VoLTE (Voice over LTE) is enabled.
Rogers also confirmed some OnePlus devices now support VoLTE after a recent software update. That includes models like the OnePlus 13, 12, 11, and Nord N30.
As a reminder, customers still using the legacy 3G network may also see extra fees on their bills:
To avoid those charges, customers need to upgrade to a VoLTE-capable device and SIM, or migrate to the 4G/5G network by the deadline in their Rogers notice.
You can tell if you’re using a 3G SIM if it starts with 8930272040299 or lower. Rogers says replacement SIMs have been sent out and can be activated online or in-store.
Ztar Mobile, a smaller carrier that runs on Rogers’ network, had already listed August 31 as its 3G retirement date for its subsidiary Good2Go—adding to suspicions that Rogers would push back its own.
iPhone in Canada reached out to Rogers this week regarding the revised 3G shutdown date, but have not heard back from the company.
Update: Rogers says they expect migrations to now be complete before the end of the year. Before any 3G network shutdowns happen in an area, Rogers says they will notify customers. So the 3G network shutdown begins August 7 and looks to be a phased shutdown.
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All this extra fees should be illegal. Sunsetting 3ag is a choice rogersnis making therefor eocnsumer shoildnt have to pay extra for it because they don’t have a choice. Upgrading your phone is NOT a choice, it is forced.
Yes, your analog cell phones don't work anymore either. Spectrum is a limited resource, and using a lot of it on 2G or 3G is a waste.
Read what I said. Nothing suggested it was a bad idea to sunset 3G.
2G/3G are digital standards, not analog. Rogers is keeping 2G as per their website (most likely for IoT purposes), the spectrum for it is much smaller as it only takes up about 200khz (0.2mhz) and can have a guard-band setup, while 3G takes up 5mhz.