T-Mobile will eliminate the Sprint LTE network next summer

T-Mobile and Sprint merged last year after finally gaining approval to do so. As customers of Sprint know, T-Mobile has been pushing new SIM cards to get people off some of the older Sprint networks and onto the newer T-Mobile networks. T-Mobile has now confirmed that it intends to shut down the Sprint LTE network next summer.

T-Mobile has given a specific date of June 30, 2022, for the day the Sprint LTE network goes dark. That decision is unlikely to impact any of the Sprint customers who are now using the T-Mobile network. T-Mobile previously said the Sprint 3G CDMA network would be shuttered on January 1, 2022. That decision has caused problems for Dish Network, which has asked T-Mobile to maintain the network through a portion of 2022.

Unfortunately for Dish Network, T-Mobile has declined that request. That could be a problem for Boost Mobile customers as an unknown portion of those users are on the Sprint CDMA network. The closure of the aging networks is part of the merging efforts after T-Mobile spent $26 billion to purchase Sprint in one of the biggest transactions to close last year.

Currently, T-Mobile is pushing hard to build a very strong 5G network combining its spectrum and Sprint spectrum and tower assets. Reports indicate that T-Mobile has already moved approximately 33 percent of Sprint customers onto the T-Mobile network. T-Mobile says it is working to ensure it supports its customers and partners using Sprint networks during the transition to more modern T-Mobile networks.

One of the more interesting aspects is that while T-Mobile is working to close Sprint's older 3G network, it's not firm on when it intends to turn off its own aging 2G network. While T-Mobile has said it plans to retire its own older GSM 2G and UMTS 3G networks, no date has been set.