Overview
- T-Mobile announced it will retire its last 2G (GSM circuit-switched) network on August 3, 2026 and said the shutdown completes its multi-year move away from legacy voice systems.
- The company says it delayed the shutdown to give customers, businesses and roaming partners time to move old handsets and machine-to-machine devices to VoLTE and newer data standards.
- International visitors whose phones lack VoLTE support were a key reason for the extended 2G run because those devices relied on circuit-switched voice on 2G for calls.
- T-Mobile notes it spent roughly two and a half years working with roaming partners to prevent service loss and previously retired its 3G network and Sprint’s LTE network in 2022 after the Sprint acquisition.
- The shutdown narrows remaining network support to LTE and 5G and could push a small group of customers to upgrade devices or plans, while also freeing spectrum for newer services and network upgrades.