After I got my Lumia 1520 I decided to do some experimentation with it.
First of all, using Nokia Care Suite I determined the product code of my phone was: 059V6W7 VAR LTA 7R CV BLACK
This is the model I purchased from Omegacell Canada. If you purchased the phone from somewhere else you might have got a different code, but I am not sure.
Anyhow, googling this product code I found this page which lists all available product codes for the RM-938 variant:
Product Codes of Nokia Lumia 1520 ? Seidea
RM-938
059V726 VAR LATAM 6J CLARO SL WHITE
059V730 VAR LATAM AR CLARO SL SKD WHITE
059V728 VAR LATAM AR CLARO SL SKD BLACK
059V725 VAR LATAM 6J CLARO SL BLACK
059V6X0 VAR LTA 7R CV WHITE
059V6W7 VAR LTA 7R CV BLACK
059V6X1 VAR LTA 7R CV YELLOW
059V442 VAR LTA BR CV BLACK
059V533 VAR LTA BR CV WHITE
059V744 VAR LATAM 6F MOVISTAR SL BLACK
059V721 VAR LATAM AR MOVISTAR SL SKD YLW
059V5L9 VAR LATAM 6F MOVISTAR SL WHITE
059V719 VAR LATAM AR MOVISTAR SL SKD BLK
059V720 VAR LATAM AR MOVISTAR SL SKD WHT
059V7N7 VAR LTA UY ANTEL BLACK SL
059V724 VAR LATAM AR CV SKD RED
059V722 VAR LATAM AR CV SKD BLACK
059V3L0 AMERICAS WHITE SWAP
059V3L1 AMERICAS RED SWAP
059V3L2 AMERICAS YELLOW SWAP
059V3K8 AMERICAS BLACK SWAP
059V3L8 PWBASSY LIGHT SWAP ENGINE GLOBAL
So I downloaded the firmware of my product code and saved it in a safe place. This is like the installation disk of Windows, if something wrong happens to my phone I can always flash it and start anew (the same way you format a computer and clean-install Windows).
Then I got interested in the SWAP variant and decided to take a look at their firmware files and see how they differ from the model I got. I googled further and found this link which lists the file names of all firmware components:
Get Lates Nokia Firmwares From Product Code 059V3K8
The link above is for the Black SWAP variant. Replace the last 7 digits in the URL with your actual product code to get a list of the firmware files and even download them for free from the official Nokia servers!
Anyhow, looking at the firmware files of the SWAP variant, I was surprised to see this file:
RM938_1028.3534.1343.0000_RETAIL_nam_canada_104_00_317445_prd_signed.ffu
Notice the word "Canada" in the file name? This is the main firmware file which is around 1.5 GB in size.
So apparently, there was a plan to launch the RM-938 variant in Canada at some point. Going through some of the firmware files, I found that the firmware was signed early in January this year, and I personally was expecting the Lumia 1520 to be officially in Canada (Rogers or Telus) in January, but it looks like the plan was canceled for some reason.
I got interested in flashing my own Lumia 1520 with one of those SWAP firmware just to see how they work, so I downloaded the firmware files and went ahead with the process! I am pretty comfortable with flashing Lumia phones, and I can always flash it back to my original product code if I want.
So the flashing was complete, and my phone restarted with an English interface (instead of the Spanish interface in the original firmware). After setup was complete, I went to Settings --> Cellular , and to my surprise I couldn't find 4G anymore in the "Highest connection speed". Doing a Network Selection search didn't detect 4G carriers, so I figured this older/basic firmware was crippling my phone and I certainly didn't want to spend any more time with it, so I flashed my phone back with the original firmware and was able to restore the 4G connectivity. Everything is back to normal now.
I just wanted to share this with you. The fact that there is a "Canadian" firmware for the Lumia 1520 is very interesting. I don't know if this is indeed a canceled project or the basis for a future plan to bring the phone officially to Canadian carriers. But so far I am happy with the phone I got. No defects and every thing seems ok, and in less than 10 days I will be running Windows Phone 8.1 on it!
This is indeed a future-proof phone. It will take a long time before anything significantly better is available in the market.