Who I have the same questioned this topic

I received an email from Verizon stating that they are decommissioning their 3G and 4G non VoLTE networks and that multiple iphones on my account will no longer be able to make or receive texts and calls by the end of 2022.   We are seniors with two very old iphones, (5 and 7) that are just fine for our needs.   Verizon stated that only an iphone 12 or 13 will be able access the 5G network.  The implication is that our 5 and 7 will be useless after the changeover to 5G.   I think our iphone 7 will work after the changeover and that Verizon is being disingenuous  because they want us to upgrade and buy more iphone 12s and 13s.  

I had no idea what 3G, 4G, 5G, HD, VoLTE, etc. even meant so I did some research.  I discovered that our iphone 5 will, indeed,  be useless at the end of 2022 because it cannot be HD or VoLTE enabled.  However, I believe, based on my research, that my iphone 7 should continue to work without a problem so long as I have enabled VoLTE.  I followed instructions I found on-line, made sure I had the latest  iOS version, set the iphone 7 to LTE and turned on VoLTE.  Having done that, I believe my phone will be useable to make and receive calls and texts, and access data after the changeover.  Maybe slower, however.   I am guessing this would also be true for the iphone 8 and 11 so long as they are using the latest version of iOS.    Will someone who is tech savvy and really understands this stuff, please let me know if I am right or wrong.   

If I'm right,  shame on Verizon for implying, while not actually stating, that all phones below the 12 will not be usable.  If they really wanted to be forthcoming, they would have explained clearly that these older iphones can be configured to allow use on 4G VoLTE.  If I'm wrong, oh my, what do I do now?