VoLTE whitelisting and phone compatiblity

[mc211]

 Could someone help me understand the telus / public mobile VoLTE phone whitelisting system and how it will affect phone / network compatibility as 3g is phased out soon?  Is there any transparency or way to check on phone compatibility? Are other Canadian providers not blocking phones that I should consider? ( it looks like i have rogers in my area as well)

 I am looking at some specific phones ( small form factor, limited, or dumb) ie unihertz atom  but it seems really difficult to check for compatibility now and i don't want to end up with a brick.

 thanks

[slusagm]

@DaveVS18 You could be right.  But what you don't know is 3G is not going away for PM, Telus and Bell family, for another 2 year.   So, the VoLTE whitelist won't hurt them for now 

[DaveVS18]

Any carrier who decides to maintain a whitelist of phones when 3G disappears does so at their own peril. Especially with carriers who don't offer phone to begin with. It would be a great way to cut your subscribers by 50% or more. This is why everyone believes  VoLTE will be opened up to everyone. I had to give up a perfectly good OnePlus phone for a Motorola in order for VoLTE to work with Public Mobile.

[Phil_Adelphus]

@yu23706   so mostly has older models / not any new phones.

No it doesn't seem to get updated but the general thinking is that any newer versions of phones already on the list should be covered.  There are other phones that may be covered also but no way to know without doing the test (wifi off, cellular data on, make a phone call to see if the phone stays on LTE) which again requires that you already have the phone.  Having said that, if you're buying from somewhere that has a return policy then you can check once you get the phone and return it if it's a no go (or switch carriers to one that allows VoLTE for that model, some carriers are more restrictive than others).

[hTideGnow]

hi @yu23706 

thanks for the exact text.

I didn't receive that myself, I wonder if it is a regional or provincial network issue only

What new phone are you planning to buy? Any newer generation of those phones on the list will for sure be compatible

[yu23706]

Here is what it said verbotem

---

Public Mobile here.

We are making upgrades to our 4G network that may impact your 3G voice, messaging, and data connectivity. You may experience a degraded 3G connection from February 3 to February 8, 2025 and then ongoing after February 20, 2025.

Public Mobile support publicmobile.ca/sl/RHFbbgAz1o is available to help you if you are impacted.

---

The interesting thing is, while that link didn't work on mobile, checking it on a desktop PC, took me to a telus chat assistant regarding VOLTE compatibility and instructions for turning it on in phone.

Which is where my concern came from regarding 3G voice shut off and VOLTE support in phones.

I've seen the official whitelist, but it seems that it hasn't been updated in quite some time, and so mostly has older models / not any new phones.  The 2025 lineup of phones are starting to come out and I am a little hesitant about buying blind not knowing for sure if it'll end up compatible.

[Phil_Adelphus]

@yu23706   it's hard to know what phone to buy ahead of time

You should be safe going by PM's "certified" VoLTE phones list or newer versions of phones listed here

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/volte 

[hTideGnow]

hi @yu23706 

what exact thing it said on the sms?

[yu23706]

Very interesting. Just got an sms alert from Public regarding network upgrades that could cause outages to 3G voice service.   From Feb 3rd 2025 - Feb 8th 2025.    That on it's own wasn't that noteworthy.  

However it also mentioned ongoing issues After Feb 20th.  That part struck me as unusual.  So I'm wondering if the phasing out of 3G might be starting. Has me a bit worried as I've just started looking at upgrading my phones (neither of them had VoLTE), but it seems like VoLTE support is still pretty all over the place, and so it's hard to know what phone to buy ahead of time, if it's going to have voice issues going forwards.  Can't use the IMEI checker until after you have a phone in your hands.

[Phil_Adelphus]

I wouldn't be confident that PM will open up VoLTE to all  phones when 3G is shutdown.  Some phones aren't even VoLTE capable, and others are not approved.  When the US shut down 3G some carriers offered free VoLTE phones to customers with non-approved phones.  That doesn't seem to be happening with Rogers, who have a compatibility tool here (I didn't get any results for Unihertz Atom):

https://www.rogers.com/support/mobility/rogers-3g-hspa-networks-are-being-retired 

[sheytoon]

I think 3G will stay on Telus and Bell until at least end of 2027. There has been no announcement so far.

[hTideGnow]

hi @Chalupa_Batman

different carrier has different agenda.  Like US, AT&T ended the 2G long time ago and T-Mobile just shutting it down this year

 as far as I remember, @sheytoon mentioned that Telus won't have enough time to shutdown 3G by end of 2025

Also, PM will certainly open up VOLTE for all phones when 3G is gone 

So, I am not too worry 

[Chalupa_Batman]

---

@hTideGnow wrote:

hi @Chalupa_Batman as many emphasized, 2025 is NOT the sunshine date for 3G for Bell and Telus 

and after 3G is gone,  I see that PM will open up VoLTE for all phones.  

---

Rogers is shutting down 3G in March of 2025. I haven't heard work of Bell or Telus yet but a Telus rep who is an area rep informed me late 2025 is the internal memo he got. 

And I hope your correct about PM opening up a lot of VoLTE phones for folks to use. It would be a HUGE disaster for them not to.

[hTideGnow]

hi @Chalupa_Batman as many emphasized, 2025 is NOT the sunshine date for 3G for Bell and Telus 

and after 3G is gone,  I see that PM will open up VoLTE for all phones.  

[Chalupa_Batman]

---

@Handy1 wrote:

@mc211  One never here really likes the cat 22  @Chalupa_Batman  can explain more on that phone features 

---

Thanks @Handy1 

Hey @mc211  I bought and played with the Cat S22 for a while. Sadly it is not on the approved whitelist... YET but trying though! The phone itself has Android Go and isn't as bad as I thought. One of my biggest issues was to have to type everything out letter by letter which would be a big pain. However, once you set up the Google on it, you can use Google Voice To Text for sending text messages. That was a HUGE bonus on that phone. I also downloaded TextNow app which I can install the SIM card they offer for free use in the US which is awesome! 

It is in my opinion that Telus / Koodo / Public Mobile have a duty and responsibility to be transparent with their whitelist. They are refusing to share this with us. With 2025 almost here, nobody can really say whether 3G will fully disappear with Telus and their other brands. And I mean NOBODY! Unless they work for Telus management and already know the future which is very doubtful. I'm working on getting these lists and will post them once they are provided. 

[Lar1]

Just bought a Galaxy phone.  Yes it's much bigger than the last one.  I ski, mountain bike a lot plus ride a motorcycle so I was concerned about breaking the thing in half.  I bought a sling bag at the dollar store.  It holds the phone in big compartment and my keys, wallet in the small one. Maybe MC211 give that a try, it's working for me.

[Handy1]

@mc211  One memeber  here really likes the cat 22  @Chalupa_Batman  can explain more on that phone features 

[mc211]

thanks for the insights. 
i'd destroy an iphone in an afternoon.  i need a tough outdoorsy minimalist phone that's small enough to pocket. i never carry my galaxy with me as it's too big and fragile, it sort of my land line... but life is changed and i need to keep a phone handy now.
   I do need maps and voice texting so the one flip phone that telus has isn't quite adequate.   Cat s 22 or unihertz atom. But who knows if they'll actually work...  maybe i'll get a big leather case for the galaxy and just see how long it lasts

[Handy1]

@mc211  My suggestion is to buy iPhone 8 or up is always a safe bet 

[mc211]

 any sources or references for the confidence that any volte phone will work later??  i can't afford to buy a paperweight 😞

[Phil_Adelphus]

@mc211  ( it looks like i have rogers in my area as well)

Rogers has announced it is shutting down 3G for Rogers, Fido and Chatr as of March 2025, so you would need to check compatibility if thinking of switching there.  I had a VoLTE capable phone on Rogers which wasn't able to use VoLTE on their system.

[Handy1]

@mc211  

voLTE IMEI checker

https://www.telus.com/en/support/article/how-to-use-volte

[mc211]

can we whitelist our individual imei's?   is there any sense on when or if canadian carriers are going to relax their whitelist requirements?  any pressure to do so?

[hTideGnow]

hi @mc211 

won't be 2025, the sunshine will be delayed for a year or two 

and by then, any VoLTE phones will work,  no more whitelist by then

[Handy1]

@mc211  I’ve heard rumours about 2025 but I can’t say for certain I’m just a customer like you trying to help . But 3G will be shut down eventually for sure 

[mc211]

 This makes me also wonder about my current phone, a samsung galaxy a71.  It's also not on the white list. It's going to stop working when 3g phases out?  This is happening in 2025 or so?

[Handy1]

@mc211  Yes I would say so especially  now when it comes to roaming in the U.S. 

[mc211]

thankyou!  So if a phone isn't on that small list it's basically going to be nonfunctional on public fairly soon as 3g is taken down?  And they aren't willing to add your phone to the whitelist through customer service?

[Handy1]

@mc211  

VoLTE white list

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/volte