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Three 3G shutdown timetable?

I would have thought EE's non-4G masts are less than 1% of their estate?
Only time I have seen them is in extreme rural areas.
 
I've just ordered a Smarty SIM to replace the Talkmobile SIM I've been using since late September. For some reason the speed has dropped over the weekend to really low levels with quite a few total drops of service. Talkmobile say there are no issues in my area but I'm wondering is this is the start of the Vodafone 3G shutoff and is affecting the 4G service. I'd really rather not take the Smarty service back as it's 3G where I live, but it is so far stable and reasonably fast.
I think a bit of turbulence on the network is to be expected while things change, but some forewarning and admission of problems along with a plan would go a long way.
 
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Just seen > this < on the Three Website.
The three 3G switch off map link is in also in the thread above guys, I'll also update the map link when it's updated by three, just for easy reference.:)
 
One thing I don’t really understand is how the 3G switch off is going to work with a lot of Android phones. Even some modern Android phones don’t show the VoLTE option for *some* carriers. I have a spare OnePlus 7 (not really that old) which has no option for VoLTE on Three. Android’s VoLTE implementation seems very poor compared to iOS.
 
One thing I don’t really understand is how the 3G switch off is going to work with a lot of Android phones. Even some modern Android phones don’t show the VoLTE option for *some* carriers. I have a spare OnePlus 7 (not really that old) which has no option for VoLTE on Three. Android’s VoLTE implementation seems very poor compared to iOS.
I'm not an expert on this, but my understanding is that there's a difference between VoLTE & 4G calling so your phone may work on 4G even if you don't see VoLTE.

Slightly off topic here and happy to be corrected... VoLTE is essentially VOIP via LTE and uses the same technology at the end points as VoWiFi. VoLTE goes via the 'trusted / secure' Mobile network while VoWiFi goes via a VPN over the 'untrusted / insecure' Internet.
 
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I'm not an expert on this, but my understanding is that there's a difference between VoLTE & 4G calling so your phone may work on 4G even if you don't see VoLTE.

Slightly off topic here and happy to be corrected... VoLTE is essentially VOIP via LTE and uses the same technology at the end points as VoWiFi. VoLTE goes via the 'trusted / secure' Mobile network while VoWiFi goes via a VPN over the 'untrusted / insecure' Internet.
4G Calling and VoLTE are one and the same, all IP based.

I feel like on Android these settings have to be specifically added to the firmware for it to work - leaving many providers out.
 
One thing I don’t really understand is how the 3G switch off is going to work with a lot of Android phones. Even some modern Android phones don’t show the VoLTE option for *some* carriers. I have a spare OnePlus 7 (not really that old) which has no option for VoLTE on Three. Android’s VoLTE implementation seems very poor compared to iOS.

Android doesn't have a VoLTE implementation as far as I'm aware. Each brand needs to implement it themselves. Many networks also work with a whitelist for VoLTE, so brands then need to get their devices/implementation approved by the networks (and sometimes MVNOs, see Spusu here in the UK).

VoLTE works well on iPhones because they're popular and iOS is only used by Apple. You also won't have issues with Samsung (Android) for similar reasons. Both brands are very popular and networks want VoLTE to work on these devices.

It's important to remember that while the term "Android" is used, it's not like Windows. Every brand has their Android fork. Samsung's Android has good VoLTE support, OnePlus/OPPO's Android is not as good.

I remember reading something about Google expanding their "Carrier Services" (created to support RCS) to also do VoLTE. Maybe eventually there will be a closed source blob that anyone can use, allowing most brands to use a common VoLTE implementation (outside China, at least).
 
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