Optus offers 20,000 free phones to vulnerable customers affected by 3G shutdown

Optus is offering 20,000 free phones to elderly and vulnerable customers amid the impending shutdown of the 3G network in the coming months.

With the 3G network shutdown looming, Optus is providing 20,000 free mobile phones to vulnerable customers so they can stay connected.

The impending closure of the old 3G network is a hidden issue which will impact many Australians – some of whom don’t even know it will affect their devices.

Late last year, the country’s big telcos announced they would be shutting down their 3G networks.

Optus’ head of new products Harvey Wright says the 3G network has to be closed because it is old and reaching the end of its life cycle, making it gets harder to maintain and leaving it at risk of failing.

“It’s about making our network as reliable as it can possibly be,” he said.

Optus will switch off its 3G network in September; Telstra will do so on August 31.

While most modern phones use 4G and 5G, there are some customers with phones that still use the 3G network.

As well, some 4G phones also use the 3G network to make emergency calls – meaning some customers will be affected by the 3G shutdown but don’t know it.

Optus is offering 20,000 free phones to eligible customers ahead of the 3G network shutdown. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw.

“Even though the customer can see ‘4G’ on that handset, it still means that that handset is affected,” Mr Wright told NewsWire.

Optus said it was doing its best to get in contact with customers who had using the 3G network.

It says it can identify the devices through its network and is getting in touch via SMS and email.

It’s urging all customers who have been alerted to get in touch so that they can help them move to a phone which won’t be affected by the 3G shutdown.

“They can call us, whether prepaid or postpaid customers, they can go into a store, they can go online,” Mr Wright said.

“The customers who are affected by this are flagged in our system, so if they were to walk into our store, for example, the person that serves you would know that you’ve got a device that’s impacted.”

To help ease the burden, Optus is offering 20,000 handsets at no cost to customers who are elderly or experiencing financial hardship.

It has begun to contact eligible customers with the offer.

Optus says it is attempting to contact all customers who will be impacted by the 3G shutdown. Picture: NewsWire/Diego Fedele.

Telstra last month said it would provide 12,000 free phones for its customers in a similar offer.

“We understand that for many Australians, this is probably something that they would otherwise want to avoid – so that’s why we’re providing heavily-discounted or zero-cost handsets to customers so that they can easily keep connected,” Mr Wright said.

“We know that customers, when it comes to mobile handsets, they like choice.

“Everyone has their preferred brand or make or model. Some people like the latest handsets. Some people like more basic types of handsets with classic sort of features.

“So what we’re trying to do is to provide many options for customers.”

Anyone that wants to check whether their phone will be affected by the 3G shutdown can text “3” to the number 3498.

Originally published as Optus offers 20,000 free phones to vulnerable customers affected by 3G shutdown