North Dakota Attorney General Frets Over Coming 3G Phaseout

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Duane Stanley, an official with the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office, is the latest to sound the alarm about a wireless industry plan to sunset its legacy 3G network in the coming months. The AG’s office is joining the Alarm Industry Communications Committee, which says AT&T’s proposed February deadline for shutting down its own 3G wireless service is far too soon, given the many devices relying on that network. Take sobriety monitoring ankle bracelets, for example. In North Dakota, a state program meant as an alternative to incarceration involves the monitoring of hundreds of individuals through wireless-connected bracelets, Stanley wrote. “If 3G services were to be terminated before our organization has had an opportunity to upgrade its devices and arrange a swap-out with each monitored offender, there will be significant public safety consequences,” he warned in comments to the Federal Communications Commission. Stanley and some other parties want AT&T to push its 3G sunset from February 2022 until at least the end of next year. Although the FCC updated its consumer guide for the various planned 3G sunsets, critics want the commission to intervene more directly. AT&T, meanwhile, has rebuffed such criticism, telling the FCC this week that its detractors have made “unsupported claims” and that it has provided plenty of notice and transition help.


North Dakota State Official Frets Over Coming 3G Phaseout