T-Mobile Offers Its Prepaid 3G Customers Free Upgrade To 5G Phone

T-Mobile is scheduled to turn off its legacy 3G network on July 1, 2022. With T-Mobile's upcoming 3G network shutdown date fast approaching, the company will need to get any remaining customers it has on that network to upgrade their devices before that date arrives or their service will stop working. T-Mobile has put an offer in place to help out its prepaid subscribers that still have 3G devices. Customers can trade-in their eligible 3G devices to get a free OnePlus Nord N200 5G phone. The OnePlus Nord N200 5G has a retail value of $245.99, although it's currently available to T-Mobile Prepaid customers for $216. Although the phone will be free for 3G upgrades, customers may have to pay tax on the phone based on its retail price. A $10 SIM kit may also be required.

T-Mobile has not stated what phones are eligible for the trade-in to get the free OnePlus, but I have to imagine any 3G phone currently being used on the network will do. This is an in-store only offer. So you'll have to head on over to your local T-Mobile store to upgrade your 3G device.

OnePlus Nord N200 5G Specs

The OnePlus Nord N200 5G has the following specifications:

• 6.49" 1080p x 2400p 90Hz IPS display

• 2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon octa-core 480 processor

• Triple lens rear cameras with a 13MP f/2.2 main lens, 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP depth lens

• 16MP selfie camera

• 64GB internal storage expandable with a microSD card

• 4GB RAM

• 5000mAh battery with 18W fast charging

• Fingerprint scanner

• Oxygen OS Android Version 11

• Support for the following network bands: 4G LTE: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/20/25/26/28/38/41/66/71 5G: n2/n5/n25/n41/n66/n71

Every Carrier Is Shutting Down Its 3G Network

2022 is the year that every carrier is shutting down its 3G network to repurpose it for 5G.

AT&T was the first of the major carriers to shut down its legacy 3G network in February of 2022. The shutdown has been a disaster for AT&T's MVNO partners and even for some of its own subscribers. T-Mobile was next in line as it began shutting down the 3G network it inherited from Sprint on March 31, 2022. The closure is scheduled to be slowly completed over the next couple of months. Verizon is holding off the longest and will shutdown its 3G CDMA network on December 31, 2022.