Steve, I have said reportedly that this article is clickbait. I cannot possibly repeat it in any more ways than I already have. There is a reason that no other blogs or websites have claimed Verizon is "blocking" IMEIs... Removing the support or simply not adding it in the first place was Microsoft's call, and it was folks in this forum that started the rumor about blocking IMEIs. Why did they believe this? Because Verizon requires an IMEI for provisioning a new SIM.
I work at Verizon, and while my opinions don't necessarily don't represent the carrier, tech isn't a matter of opinion. In a world of 1s and 0s, it either works or it doesn't. I provision phones and troubleshoot them on a daily basis. I fix internet connections on these things for my paycheck. I manually edit settings in the switch when things go wrong, and I have observed plenty of Non-VZW devices being used on the network in the last few months. I've taught customers how to self-provision this stuff if they are using a non-VZW device. I even ran into a guy using a dual-SIM phone intended for China with a reflashed IMEI and his own cooked-ROM blend of firmware. If the device has CDMA ready and supports it on Verizon's frequencies, it is good to go. I have seen customers using a variety of non-Verizon phones on our network. They work. We don't officially support these phones, but if they work, all the more power to the customer.
Today WPcentral just posted this:
Here is why you are not getting full LTE on AT&T when using the Lumia 950 XL | Windows Central
Do you know what this article says? It says that AT&T has the exact same policy as Verizon does on IMEIs they don't recognize. Their system uses the IMEI for provisioning. If it doesn't recognize it, things may not work. If you need to get the system to give the correct features, use the IMEI of another phone. And this is happening on the oh-so-glorious savior of Windows Phone, AT&T.
IN OTHER WORDS THE POLICIES OF VERIZON AND AT&T ARE EXACTLY THE SAME ON THE SUBJECT OF NON-CARRIER DEVICES!
Meanwhile, people in AT&T threads have been complaining about AT&T employees trying to shove them towards the Android and Apple devices, not displaying the devices properly, being jerks toward WP users...
all the usual things that people seem to think only happens at Verizon stores when it comes to Windows Phone.
Was Verizon a perfect little angel in the grand scheme of things? Likely not and neither was Microsoft. Will it make the 950 work on Verizon? No. Not without the required technologies and bands. However, when we move from news and bad experiences to false accusations, it needs to be said. Microsoft was...uncouth in their assertion that Verizon somehow forced their hand into removing potential support from the device, but this site took that bit of info and a few panicked forum posts and turned it into one big mess of vitriol that I haven't even seen on Harry Potter shipping threads.
I've loved coming to this site for years. Heck, I was still using a non-cellular PDA bluetoothed to a basic phone back in the day. I do a lot more lurking than posting. But the whole clickbait accusation of blocking has really soured this place to me. Once upon a time, I thought this site was better than that.