der_saeufer

This seems like a perfect use case for the new Nokia 3310. Standby time measured in weeks, and fifty bucks on Amazon.

gfunkdave

They made a new phone that only supports 2G? Most carriers are going to be shutting down their 2G networks in the next couple years.

docbert

They have both 2G and 3G models. The 2G models (which is what the link above was to) are only sold in countries where it makes sense - which as you've implied doesn't include the US or many other countries.

This is the 3G models - https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_us/nokia-3310-3g

gfunkdave

Interesting. I thought nobody worldwide was still deploying 2G or 3G networks and everyone has gone to LTE. Guess not.

msp3

No one is, but you wouldn't be able to tell by the number of people calling their phones "GSM" or looking for a "GSM-unlocked" phone on the internet. These people just can't fathom GSM is a dead, outdated 2G technology shutting down all over the world. UMTS/HSPA is next up on the chopping block...

der_saeufer

Nobody's building them out except perhaps in very low-income countries, but not everyone--even in the rich world--is replacing them yet.

In the developing world, there are still tons of places without much (or any) LTE coverage--especially in places where income levels are low enough that Nokia thinks the $15ish you save on the 2G version is worth people's time.

Back to the topic of this thread (sorta) my iPhone SE in Belgium finally got to use VoLTE for the first time late last year, and the other two networks don't even have VoLTE yet. Unsurprisingly, there's not even a planned shutoff date for the GSM/EDGE networks here; it's looking like some countries may leave GSM/EDGE alive even after the 3G networks are shut down in the next 5ish years.

I still wouldn't buy one just to keep in the car, but the iPhone SE is sort of a unique phone--it's certainly showing its age now but it's still the only sub-5" smartphone that's not a total [expletive]box. In the Android world, the only phones that small are either weird not-really-phones or $30 sketchy Chinese phones running Android 6.

docbert

To a lot of people, GSM is the opposite of "whatever the hell it is that Verizon uses". A phone is either GSM and works on T-Mobile and AT&T, or it's non-GSM and works on Verizon and Sprint.

Whilst that's obviously not even close to true in the LTE days, it was still a reasonable approximation for the truth in the "3G" days.

TWA884

Not necessarily. My Verizon Global phone works on any network, CDMA, GSM, UMTS, HSPA+ and LTE.

You'd be surprised how many places in the world do not have reliable LTE service.

davie355

kennycrudup

Same, and I could probably throw a rock and hit some of the outlying offices of most of the FAANGs. Gotta be good old Cali NIMBYism.

jg3

Heck, Connecticut here with the same freaking issue.

timfountain

GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks. AT&T no longer supports 2G. QED AT&T does not support classic GSM; it has been dead for more than 2 years.... T-Mobile 2G/GSM is on life support.


Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM
Source - https://about.att.com/innovationblog/2g_sunset
Source - https://support.t-mobile.com/thread/143870

kennycrudup

Not sure what your point is, @timfountain, but in the US @docbert had it right; (and especially a few years back) you either bought a "GSM" phone or a "Sprint/Verizon" one.