Do phone companies actually want our business?
Ever since AT&T decommissioned the 2G towers in 2016 when I was in high school and turned my beloved Sony Ericsson c905 and Nokia n95 into paperweights I've been on a mission to have freedom from the ridiculousness of the planned obsolescence of these companies.
I clawed and fought, imported phones from Japan and Hong Kong, and switched carriers multiple times. All just trying to find a basic phone, or anything that I would consider "cool" like we could 10 years ago. For a good while I had a cell phone home base in my car, acting as a pretty convincing car phone. It was the only basic phone that was halfway decent that had voice over LTE service in my area.
I finally gave up and decided to buy a Sony Experia 1 II about a year ago to use on the consumer cellular network.
Yesterday at about 2:00 p.m. my (ATT WHITELISTED) flagship phone with a 4K display with no trace of perceptible lag, no connectivity issues, and Android 12, suddenly stopped receiving Internet service on the Consumer Cellular network. No warning, no email, no nothing.
When I called to speak with a representative they said that they're phasing out LTE. That it's "no longer a network they can guarantee 100% reliability of all features".
I hadn't gotten over the T-MOBILE 2G shutdown. Now this??
Call me whatever you want. But I will go to my grave more than angry that cell phones have become a basic necessity in 2026, (I can't clock in at work without getting a text. Can't go to concerts without a QR code. Can't buy an atlas to get around at any convenience store... Etc) AND we have no choice of what kind we can use.