AT&T is shutting down its 3G network next year. The change is set to come next February and will affect a lot of people stuck on AT&T’s 3G network. To compensate for the shutdown, the company is providing a free replacement phone.

The company has sent emails about the 3G shutdown telling them about the free phone offer already. In case you’ve not received the email, then you can head over to  att.com/AcceptMyPhone, verify your phone number, and then wait for the company to send a 4G-compatible smartphone replacement.

att free phone 3g customers

It was earlier reported that the phone AT&T will be providing will be its low-cost RADIANT Core from 2019. RADIANT Core was AT&T’s $70 phone with a 480p display, a single 5MP camera, 16GB of storage, 1GB RAM, and a 2,500 mAh battery, which is nowhere close to today’s cheap/budget smartphones.

If the company would have provided that phone, it would have been as useless as a phone not working with the 3G network — apart from the fact that it would have actually allowed you to make calls, send texts, and use mobile data, but wouldn’t have been enough from the usability point of view.

Thankfully, according to  AndroidPolice, AT&T isn’t sending the RADIANT Core to its 3G customers. The company has started to send out much-better-specced Samsung phones as a part of the shutdown. Some of the phones that people have been included are the Galaxy Note 9, the Galaxy Note 10, the Galaxy S9, and the Galaxy A11s. According to the carrier’s spokesperson, a variety of phones have been included due to inventory constraints.

“We have not changed our plans to replace 3G network-dependent devices. However, inventory constraints mean we sometimes must find substitutes for some devices.”

In case you still feel these smartphones are not an apt replacement for your current 3G one, then check out deals on budget 4G smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy S20 FE and OnePlus 8T.