Verizon will finally kill the Galaxy Note 7... after the holidays

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7's death throes will continue into 2017 -- but the end is in sight.

Verizon has announced that Jan. 5 will be that last day it will support the Note 7 on its network, which will effectively kill off the phone in the U.S.

Last week, Samsung announced a long-awaited software update to finally disable the few Note 7s still out in circulation in the United States. The update was primed for a Dec. 19 release date to give device owners even more time to exchange their explosive devices, but there was some unexpected pushback.

Verizon, the largest mobile carrier in the country, declared that it would not support Samsung's kill-switch and that Note 7 users would not be cut off from service on Dec. 19. The company justified the decision by citing concerns for "the added risk this could pose to Galaxy Note7 users that do not have another device to switch to," and the hectic holiday season.

Other U.S. mobile carriers stayed in line behind Samsung. T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T all confirmed to Mashable their pledge to stand behind the update. US Cellular stayed silent on the matter.

When it declared that it will issue Samsung's update to disable the Note 7s still in service, Verizon stayed strong in its convictions that the phone needs to stay connected to the network through the holidays:

Samsung will be releasing a Note7 software update on December 19. This update prevents the device from charging and eliminates the ability for it to work as a mobile device.  

Verizon will not be pushing this software update to your device until January 5, 2017. We want to make sure you can contact family, first responders, and emergency medical professionals during the holiday travel season.

However, we urge you to stop using your Note7, upgrade it to another device, and return the Note7 to us. 

With this news, we can finally close the book on the long saga of the Galaxy Note 7. If you are still for some reason using one of those pocket bombs, please, go exchange it as soon as possible. If you don't, Samsung and your network — even if it's Verizon — will finally cut you off.