Best Buy-Owned Phone Service Faces Angry Customers After 3G Network Shutdown

Ms. Kurtz’s mother is among users of the

Best Buy Co.

BBY 1.16%

-owned Lively service, which 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.

“As a result of network updates made on Jan. 2, some customers with a Jitterbug Flip phone are experiencing a disruption to their service,”

Best Buy

BBY 1.16%

said. The company said it is working to resolve the issue and noted that Jitterbug Flip2 phones, Jitterbug smartphones and Lively-branded devices aren’t impacted. 

In a message to affected customers, Lively said it expects to provide an update by Thursday. It didn’t give an estimate of when service would be restored or how many customers had issues with their devices. Lively told those customers to use a different device to contact 911 in the case of an emergency.

“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our customers, and as soon as we learned about the issue, we worked to notify customers that were potentially impacted,” Best Buy said. 

After discovering service problems, Ms. Kurtz said she and her mother thought there was an issue with the phone battery or the bill not being paid. After a few days, she said she called Lively and got a recorded message about the Jitterbug phone issue. She ordered a new phone for her mother and is switching her to another wireless provider, she said. 

Family members of Lively customers said the company has offered new phones free in some instances, or discounts on purchasing upgraded 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.

Best Buy acquired Lively, formerly named GreatCall, in 2018 for $800 million in cash. The service at that time had 900,000 paying subscribers and offered “easy-to-use mobile products and connected devices tailored for aging consumers.” 

Lively is known as a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, which 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 generally don’t discuss wholesale agreements or even acknowledge which services run on their networks. Lively’s marketing materials say it is powered by “the nation’s most reliable wireless network,” language that Verizon used in its own wireless marketing for years. 

Verizon initially planned to shut down its 3G network in 2019 but extended the deadline until just before the calendar turned to 2023, months after rivals closed similar systems. Some trade groups petitioned carriers to delay network shutdowns amid concerns of impacts for certain equipment such as security and medical alert systems and phone service for Americans. 

The extension was “an effort to minimize potential service disruptions and provide additional time for our customers to transition to newer and more advanced technologies and devices,” a Verizon spokesman said. “We’ve had no significant network issues related to this transition and shutdown.”

A spokesman for the Federal Communications Commission declined to comment on the Lively situation. 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.

Some Jitterbug users were unaware of any coming changes to service related to 3G network shutdowns, according to their family members.

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, she said, but her phone stopped working last week. Ms. Bisnette said she ordered an upgraded Jitterbug Flip2 phone.

For 96-year-old

Marjorie Rees,

her Jitterbug flip phone is how she reaches loved ones from her retirement community, which doesn’t provide landline service for residents, one of her family members said.

“I’m really at wits end, her phone just goes directly to voice mail when you call,” said her son

Christopher Rees,

58, of Fredericksburg, Texas. He has tried Lively customer service, but they gave him similar information that is posted on the website and no explanation of the problem or how to fix it. 

“She is agitated and worried that she is going to miss a phone call,” he said. “For my mom’s sake, I’ve got to get her a new phone.”

Write to Will Feuer at [email protected] and Thomas Gryta at [email protected]

Ms. Kurtz’s mother is among users of the

Best Buy Co.

BBY 1.16%

-owned Lively service, which 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.

“As a result of network updates made on Jan. 2, some customers with a Jitterbug Flip phone are experiencing a disruption to their service,”

Best Buy

BBY 1.16%

said. The company said it is working to resolve the issue and noted that Jitterbug Flip2 phones, Jitterbug smartphones and Lively-branded devices aren’t impacted. 

In a message to affected customers, Lively said it expects to provide an update by Thursday. It didn’t give an estimate of when service would be restored or how many customers had issues with their devices. Lively told those customers to use a different device to contact 911 in the case of an emergency.

“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our customers, and as soon as we learned about the issue, we worked to notify customers that were potentially impacted,” Best Buy said. 

After discovering service problems, Ms. Kurtz said she and her mother thought there was an issue with the phone battery or the bill not being paid. After a few days, she said she called Lively and got a recorded message about the Jitterbug phone issue. She ordered a new phone for her mother and is switching her to another wireless provider, she said. 

Family members of Lively customers said the company has offered new phones free in some instances, or discounts on purchasing upgraded 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.

Best Buy acquired Lively, formerly named GreatCall, in 2018 for $800 million in cash. The service at that time had 900,000 paying subscribers and offered “easy-to-use mobile products and connected devices tailored for aging consumers.” 

Lively is known as a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, which 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 generally don’t discuss wholesale agreements or even acknowledge which services run on their networks. Lively’s marketing materials say it is powered by “the nation’s most reliable wireless network,” language that Verizon used in its own wireless marketing for years. 

Verizon initially planned to shut down its 3G network in 2019 but extended the deadline until just before the calendar turned to 2023, months after rivals closed similar systems. Some trade groups petitioned carriers to delay network shutdowns amid concerns of impacts for certain equipment such as security and medical alert systems and phone service for Americans. 

The extension was “an effort to minimize potential service disruptions and provide additional time for our customers to transition to newer and more advanced technologies and devices,” a Verizon spokesman said. “We’ve had no significant network issues related to this transition and shutdown.”

A spokesman for the Federal Communications Commission declined to comment on the Lively situation. 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.

Some Jitterbug users were unaware of any coming changes to service related to 3G network shutdowns, according to their family members.

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, she said, but her phone stopped working last week. Ms. Bisnette said she ordered an upgraded Jitterbug Flip2 phone.

For 96-year-old

Marjorie Rees,

her Jitterbug flip phone is how she reaches loved ones from her retirement community, which doesn’t provide landline service for residents, one of her family members said.

“I’m really at wits end, her phone just goes directly to voice mail when you call,” said her son

Christopher Rees,

58, of Fredericksburg, Texas. He has tried Lively customer service, but they gave him similar information that is posted on the website and no explanation of the problem or how to fix it. 

“She is agitated and worried that she is going to miss a phone call,” he said. “For my mom’s sake, I’ve got to get her a new phone.”

Write to Will Feuer at [email protected] and Thomas Gryta at [email protected]