Verizon executives slated recent media reports stating it paused a shutdown of its legacy 3G network, telling Mobile World Live a programme of refarming the frequencies remains active.

Heidi Hemmer, SVP of network engineering, said Verizon had not slowed its decommissioning scheme and is “actively managing the network to move usage” off 3G infrastructure.

“As the usage goes down, we refarm.”

She added the shutdown would be complete by 1 January 2023.

Cynthia Grupe, VP of network engineering, noted some 3G frequencies had already been converted, stating 850MHz spectrum previously used for CDMA was reallocated for its nationwide rollout of low-band 5G in late 2020.

A Verizon representative added some customers may experience a degradation or loss of service as decommissioning continues, but said it won’t “shut any customer off without notice”.

The operator stopped activating 3G devices in 2018 and was previously expected to complete the shutdown by end-2020.

Rival AT&T aims to finish closing its 3G network in February 2022.