Send a letter to your elected officials asking for their help to urge AT&T to delay its February 2022 3G sunset date.
Here's what you can do:
Find your state's representatives:
HOUSE
SENATE
Reach out to Committee Members:
Linked here is a spreadsheet that includes the staffers of all the members on the House and Senate Telecom Subcommittees.
Please use the staffer's email to contact each committee member.
Send A Letter:
Here is a sample letter that you can copy and paste and send directly to your representatives.
Be sure to include your name and address on your email so they know you are a constituent:
Dear Representative/Senator:
The Personal Emergency Response System (PERS) industry is seeking your help in urging AT&T to delay the shutdown of its 3G cellular network which is currently scheduled for February 22, 2022 - a mere 14 months from now - to December 2022. This would then have both Verizon and AT&T shutting down their 3G network cellular networks at the same time.
Our industry protect the life and safety of millions of Americans. Many seniors depend upon us to monitor their personal emergency response systems allowing them to live independently. Many of these systems were designed for the 3G cellular network and must be upgraded, otherwise they will cease to communicate once the 3G networks are shutdown. Historically, AT&T recognized the need for an appropriate time period when it moved from 2G to 3G and provided 4 1/2 years for that transition. The industry estimates that we now have upwards of 3 times the number of 3G devices to change out as we did in the past transition.
In many cases, the change-out requires a technician to enter the premise and upgrade the existing equipment. Unfortunately, with the Coronavirus pandemic understandably many of our customers have been reluctant to have us enter their homes and businesses. For six months and counting this has curtailed what was to be a two year transition. Realistically, we are looking at least another nine months before we will be able to resume our normal ability to upgrade these systems.
While the industry, in cooperation with AT&T, has been deploying "self install" kits of equipment that will allow consumers to update their PERS systems themselves where possible, to date these deployments have been slow, and equipment availability has been problematic due to the impact of Coronavirus on the supply chain. As such, we are not certain manufacturers will be able to meet the demand for new 4G/LTE equipment in a timely fashion.
Accordingly, we are asking you to speak directly with AT&T and urge them to move back their 3G cellular shutdown date to December 2022 and make it the same time as Verizon's shutdown. Failure to do so will put millions of lives needlessly at risk.