Best Buy-Owned Phone Service Shuts Down 3G Network, Angering Customers

When Teresa Kurtz's 78-year-old mother accidentally locked herself out of her home last week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, she pulled out her Jitterbug flip phone to seek help. However, she discovered that she could not make any calls.

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Ms. Kurtz, 60, said that her mother, who lives alone, faced chilly temperatures before receiving help from a neighbor. She said that this was one little instance where it's like, oh my gosh, this is her lifeline. Ms. Kurtz's mother is one of the many users of Best Buy Co.-owned BBY 1.81%.

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Lively is a service that sells easy-to-use cellphones and medical-alert devices to mostly older people. The company’s Jitterbug Flip phone stopped working for some customers after the start of the new year following the planned shutdown of Verizon Communications Inc.’s 3G network on Dec. 31. Some Jitterbug Flip phone customers are experiencing a disruption to their service as a result of network updates made on Jan. 2. The company said that it is aware of the issue and is working to resolve it. It noted that Jitterbug Flip2 phones, Jitterbug smartphones and Lively-branded devices are not impacted.

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Lively has informed affected customers that it expects to provide an update on the situation by Thursday. The company did not give an estimate of when service would be restored or how many customers were affected. Lively advised those customers to use a different device to contact 911 in the case of an emergency.
Best Buy said that nothing is more important to them than the safety of their customers, and that they worked to notify customers who may have been impacted as soon as they learned about the issue.

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After discovering service problems, Ms. Kurtz said she and her mother thought there might be an issue with the phone battery or the bill not being paid. However, after a few days they realized the issue was with the Jitterbug phone itself. Ms. Kurtz called Lively and got a recorded message about the problem. She then ordered a new phone for her mother and switched her to another wireless provider.

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Some family members of Lively customers have said that the company has offered new phones for free in some instances, or discounts on upgrading to new devices.
Last year, all three major U.S. cellular carriers shut down their older 3G networks to free up more wireless spectrum for the build-out of 5G. The majority of U.S. cellphone users have access to 4G or 5G networks, though some older models continued to depend on 3G right up until carriers shut down those networks. Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4S, released more than a decade ago, was the last one the company produced that solely connected on 3G or older networks.

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Best Buy acquired Lively, a company that provides mobile products and connected devices for aging consumers, in 2018 for $800 million. At the time of the acquisition, Lively had 900,000 paying subscribers.

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Lively is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that buys wholesale access to a wireless network instead of owning and operating it. For major wireless carriers, such arrangements let them sell excess capacity on their networks and gain customers without having to bear the costs of marketing to them or signing them up.
Carriers typically don't reveal which services run on their networks or discuss wholesale agreements. Lively's marketing materials say it is powered by "the nation's most reliable wireless network," a phrase that Verizon used in its own wireless marketing for years.

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Verizon had originally planned to shut down its 3G network in 2019, but extended the deadline to 2023 after pressure from trade groups. These groups were concerned about the impact of the shutdown on certain equipment, such as security and medical alert systems, and on phone service for Americans.
Verizon has extended its 3G network shutdown deadline in order to minimize potential service disruptions and give customers more time to transition to newer and more advanced technologies. The company has said that it has had no significant network issues related to the transition and shutdown.

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A spokesman for the Federal Communications Commission declined to comment on the Lively situation. However, the FCC has issued consumer warnings about the 3G shutdown and advised users to contact their mobile carrier ahead of time to determine whether service could be impacted.

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Some Jitterbug users were unaware of any coming changes to service related to 3G network shutdowns, according to their family members. Jitterbug has announced that it will be shutting down its 3G network at the end of 2019, and some users were not aware of this change. Jitterbug's 2G network will remain active.
Dena Bisnette of Newton, Kan., said she had heard last year about the shutdown of the 3G network and called Lively to ask if it would affect her Jitterbug flip phone. A company representative told her the flip phone could be reprogrammed for 4G, but it stopped working last week. Ms. Bisnette said she ordered an upgraded Jitterbug Flip2 phone.