Flow St. Vincent advises that all major mobile carriers across the United States will shut down their 3G networks to pave the way for their final transition to 4G LTE and 5G technologies. This change means that older smartphones and other devices which utilize 3G technology will no longer work while roaming in the US.
The phase out will occur as per the following schedule:
| Network | Termination Date |
| AT & T | February 22, 2022 |
| T-Mobile | July 1, 2022 |
| Verizon | December 1, 2022 |
As of the respective dates, all 3G devices will no longer work on those networks in the US, and only customers using 4G LTE or 5G devices will be able to utilise roaming services.
It is important to note that while customers will be able utilize roaming data services and Wi-Fi on 4G LTE or 5G devices in the US, traditional voice calls on these 4G LTE or 5G networks can only be made if the devices are VoLTE (Voice over LTE) enabled.
Customers will however still be able to utilize popular mobile apps such WhatsApp to make calls on these networks.
Flow is in the process of improving our network to implement the VoLTE capability to facilitate traditional voice calling while in the US and will update this advisory as soon as it is available.
As an interim measure, customers will still be able to utilize their 3G, 4G LTE or 5G devices to access both mobile data and voice roaming services on the T-Mobile network until July 1, 2022.
Flow has already made the necessary adjustments to automatically register mobile devices on the T-Mobile network upon arrival in the United States. There may, however, be some instances where customers will need to make the switch to the T-Mobile network manually in their device settings.
Considering these changes, and to ensure customers can stay connected while travelling in the US after the shutdown of these 3G networks, we recommend the following:
- Upgrade your device from 3G to a 4G LTE or 5G device that supports VoLTE
- Upgrade your SIM card to an LTE SIM
- Ensure that you subscribe to a suitable roaming package before departing
- When the VoLTE functionality is available on our network:
- Ensure that VoLTE feature in your device is activated and updated with the latest version
- Ensure that VoLTE is switched on prior to travelling
We will continue to work with our roaming partners to ensure that the impact to our traveling customers is minimised.