Short answer
There are no CDMA MVNOs left, because there is no CDMA network left to resell. Verizon decommissioned its CDMA network on January 3, 2023. Sprint’s CDMA network was retired by T-Mobile on March 31, 2022. Those were the only two in the United States.
Managed by M. Curtis McCoy · Last reviewed September 20, 2026 · How we make money
What to do now
If a phone stopped working and never came back, it was almost certainly CDMA-only and cannot be revived on any carrier. If the phone is from 2019 or later it is probably LTE and fine — the thing that matters now is which network a carrier runs on, not which radio standard it uses.
The shutdown dates, from the carriers themselves
| Network | Retired | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sprint 3G (CDMA) | March 31, 2022 | T-Mobile network evolution page |
| Sprint LTE | June 30, 2022 | T-Mobile network evolution page |
| T-Mobile 3G (UMTS) | July 1, 2022 | T-Mobile network evolution page |
| Verizon 3G (CDMA) | January 3, 2023 | Verizon: “As of January 3rd, 2023, Verizon has decommissioned its CDMA Network.” |
| AT&T 3G | 2022 | AT&T’s own customer FAQ dates it only to the year |
| T-Mobile 2G (GSM) | August 3, 2026 | T-Mobile network evolution page |
That last row is the one most people miss. The 2G GSM network T-Mobile kept alive for alarm panels, trackers and old flip phones was scheduled to go dark in August 2026. If a device on your account went silent this year and it is not a smartphone, start there.
What a CDMA MVNO actually was
An MVNO is a carrier that owns no towers. It buys wholesale capacity from a network operator and sells it under its own brand. Until 2022 the US had four host networks a reseller could buy from, split across two incompatible radio standards:
- CDMA — Verizon and Sprint. Phones were locked to the network by an internal identifier; there was usually no SIM card to move.
- GSM — AT&T and T-Mobile. A removable SIM carried the identity, so a phone could be moved by swapping cards.
That split is why the old terms exist. A “CDMA MVNO” meant a reseller on Verizon or Sprint, and buying the wrong kind meant your phone simply would not activate. The distinction mattered enormously right up until it stopped existing.
What replaced it
Every US carrier now runs on LTE and 5G. Every phone takes a SIM or an eSIM. The standard is no longer the question. Three questions replaced it:
- Which network does the carrier run on? Three host networks remain — Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T. Everything else resells one of them.
- Does your phone support that network’s bands? An unlocked phone sold for one network may be missing bands another relies on, especially mid-band 5G.
- Is VoLTE enabled? With 2G and 3G gone, calls ride LTE. A phone that cannot do VoLTE on that carrier gets data and no voice, which is the single most common “my new SIM does not work” complaint.
Where the old CDMA resellers went
Most did not survive the shutdown. The ones that did either moved onto Verizon’s LTE network or switched hosts entirely, and a number of them quietly changed which network they run on without telling anyone. That is the problem this site exists to solve.
Two things are worth knowing before you shop:
- A large share of US carrier brands will not tell you whose network they use. It is not on their coverage page, their FAQ, or their terms. Comparison sites fill the gap by copying each other, and they are wrong often enough to cost you a working phone.
- A brand changing hosts is normal. Boost has moved. Spectrum Business is moving to T-Mobile in 2026 while residential stays on Verizon. A network claim you read in 2021 is not evidence about 2026.
Our carrier directory lists the host network for every brand where the carrier states it themselves, and leaves it blank where they do not. A blank is a real answer. It is more useful than a confident guess.
Look up your carrier’s network in the directory.
Common questions
Can I still use my CDMA phone?
Not on a US network. If it is CDMA-only it has no path back. If it also supports LTE and VoLTE it may still activate — check the model against the carrier you want before you buy service.
Is Verizon still CDMA?
No. Verizon runs LTE and 5G only. It decommissioned CDMA on January 3, 2023.
Which carriers are CDMA in 2026?
None. The question has no answer because the technology is retired nationwide.
My old phone lost service and nobody can tell me why.
Three likely causes, in order: it was CDMA-only and the network is gone; it is LTE but cannot do VoLTE on that carrier; or it is a 2G device and T-Mobile’s GSM network shut down in August 2026.
Does CDMA vs GSM still affect which carrier I can switch to?
No. Band support and VoLTE decide that now. Check those, not the standard.
The question that replaced “CDMA or GSM”
Which network are you actually on?
Every US carrier resells one of three networks. Start by finding out which one yours uses, then match your phone to it.