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upstart [soylentnews.org] writes:

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upstart [soylentnews.org] writes in with an IRC submission:

AT&T tells customers to change their phones or they won't work anymore [androidpolice.com]:

Amid an economy-crushing pandemic, AT&T has decided that now is the best time to send a scaremongering email to some customers, telling them that their device "is not compatible with the new network and you need to replace it to continue receiving service." The email conveniently doesn't even explicitly mention that this will only affect customers as late as February 2022 [att.com], only linking to that information.

The email's formatting suggests that the easiest path forward is just getting a new phone via the carrier straight away: It advertises that AT&T makes "getting a new device online easy," detailing various free and fast shipping options. Someone who just skims over the mail without clicking the red "Learn More" button might conclude they need a new phone right now.

The notice is so poorly worded that an AT&T subscriber has taken to the carrier's forum [att.com], wondering if what they've received was a scam mail, since they have a relatively recent Galaxy S10e. Other customers even agreed that it's likely not a genuine email until someone could shine some light into the issue, pointing to the support page [att.com] that AT&T linked to in the email. It details that in February 2022, the carrier will turn off its 3G network, which will lead to no more voice calls on some phones.

You might think that this isn't a widespread issue since most modern phones support 4G data and calling (or HDVoice [att.com], as AT&T calls it). However, AT&T only whitelists a small number of handsets [att.com] it directly sells to customers [att.com] for 4G voice calling, and it looks like even identical non-carrier phones don't necessarily work with the carrier's HDVoice service, like the aforementioned Galaxy S10e. Depending on how many handsets are incompatible, this email might have gone out to a significant amount of subscribers.

AT&T needs to clarify this — many people already have enough problems in these times of economic uncertainty, and a new phone might not be among the things they want to worry about right now. AT&T could easily whitelist modern non-carrier devices like the S10e and the Nokia 6.1 (and why not even older ones like the OnePlus 5) so they could continue working on the network in 2022. The company should follow up with an email explicitly making clear that genuinely unsupported devices will only stop working in a year and a half, not tomorrow, even if that might not be in the carrier's interest. Let's hope no one ends up feeling pressured into getting a new phone involuntarily.

So there you have it: If you've received this email, you have more than a year and a half to upgrade your current phone. And in a best-case scenario, AT&T might even consider whitelisting more compatible devices, which could allow you to keep your handset even longer without switching to another carrier.

• Source:
• AT&T (1) [att.com],
• (2) [att.com]

• Thanks:
• Ryan

Original Submission