3G Shutdown in Rural Manitoba - Phone Models Affected - Towers Decommissioned

[Brad6903]

Just reporting that a Samsung A21 model SM-A215W no longer is able to provide voice call services on Public Mobile after a 3G shutdown (the PM IMEI checker did say this particular Samsung A21 would fail). The Samsung A21 is able to voice call services however, on a Koodo prepaid $149 yearly plan after a 3G shutdown as Koodo has listed this model on its whitelist.

The Morden and Winkler towers (communities in rural Manitoba) are now decommissioned for 3G service as of January 12, 2026.

When a phone is no longer able to provide voice services, all incoming calls go directly to voice mail. 

I am hoping that other PM members who live in rural Manitoba will report those models on this topic page that failed the PM IMEI checker ( https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/get-help/articles/volte ), but are on the Koodo whitelist ( https://www.koodomobile.com/en/help/volte ) or passed the Telus IMEI checker ( https://www.telus.com/en/business/support/article/how-to-use-volte ). This should provide a warning to those who own those models in the rest of Canada what will happen when towers in their area are decommissioned.

I am also hoping that other PM members who live in rural Manitoba will report on this topic page those towers that are decommissioned for 3G service.

[jb66]

I have lost phone service in the Gimli area with an umidigi bison GT2 Pro 5G phone, January 12th.

[Brad6903]

Yes, the 3G shutdown was announced many months ago and I have received numerous texts and emails from Public Mobile to that effect (another one came today). However, there is now confirmation that what the various IMEI checkers were saying is true, certain phone models will fail in the Public Mobile system that will work in either the Koodo or Telus systems. I was struggling with this inconsistency - why would would Public Mobile not permit a phone model for VoLTE service that is permitted for VoLTE service in other brands in the Telus universe (Telus and Koodo)? Until towers were decommissioned, we (Public Mobile users) had no way to substantiate whether the various checkers were accurate in reality. Now, we can test the accuracy of the checkers. For me, the reality is that a Samsung A21 does not provide voice services in Public Mobile, but the same phone works in Koodo from Jan. 12th onwards.

[slusagm]

Yes, that's not new, they announced it over 6 months aga

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/get...