US providers shut down the 3G – now the parking system on the entire island doesn't work anymore

The Department of Transportation Services was "caught off guard" despite warnings by the operator.

A malfunction in the parking meter system of the Hawaiian Island has happened. Phones stopped accepting cashless payments after Verizon 3G Shutdown, Civil Beat says.

According to the Department of Transportation Services (DTS), about 2,200 meters in Honolulu failed. When locals tried to pay for parking using a card, their devices stopped offering the right time selection. The spokesman of DTS clarified that the machines still accept quarters.

“Unfortunately, we were caught off guard,” said DTS Director Roger Morton. The problem affected the central regions and Waikiki. Some devices continue to accept cashless payments, but authorities expect them to fail soon.

Verizon has publicly announced its plans to shut down 3G in 2016. The company planned to do this in 2019 but extended the life of the network so that customers had time to upgrade equipment. Finally, Verizon disabled 3G on January 1st, 2023.

Despite this, the city administration didn’t update the parking meters. The Honolulu City Council approved the purchase of new meters last year, and only after that did the DTS start to purchase the equipment. It is estimated that updating the meters will take at least six months. The Department is investigating possible temporary solutions for parking fees.

The United States began a planned shutdown of 3G in 2022. The FCC said it was necessary to free up infrastructure for new technologies and urged users to upgrade their devices. The regulator said that operators independently determine the schedule for shutting down 3G. At the time of writing, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have all reported network shutdowns.