Telecom will switch off its CDMA mobile network on 31 July 2012, the company confirmed today.
“Since the launch of the XT mobile network in 2009, Telecom has said it would close the CDMA network around mid-2012. While the CDMA network will continue to operate as normal until then, after the closure devices on the CDMA network will not be able to make or receive calls and texts, or use data,” the statement reads.
Telecom's mobile customer base is split between its CDMA network and its XT network, a spokesperson says.
"Telecom has around 1 million connections on the CDMA network. In many cases these connections may have been used only a handful of times over the last six months – the kind of usage we’d expect to see by people who perhaps keep the phone as a back-up, or customers who have stopped using their phone over that period."
CDMA customers will be given formal notice of the closure from tomorrow.
Telecom Retail CEO Alan Gourdie says CDMA customers can keep their existing number, contacts and any existing credit when they sign up to the XT network.