Amidst 5G Rush, 17% of US Subscribers Still on 3G

Almost 20% of Americans are still on 3G networks – even as many of these networks face decommissioning next year, according to Opensignal. Only 4.1% of the approximately 30 million Americans who still use 3G do not have a 4G-capable device. This is “unsurprising,” according to Opensignal, because most carriers have sold nothing but 4G-capable phones for years as a way to accelerate the move of subscribers away from older networks. In all, 83% of users still served by 3G have 4G-capable devices but do not have a 4G plan. This was apparent because this percentage of 3G users with 4G-capable devices who visited areas with available 4G networks didn’t use them. This indicates that these subscribers don’t have 4G rate plans and thus no option to use the network. Some operators don’t advertise 3G-only plans but allow subscribers to keep them until they upgrade.