GDR2 Approval Process Questions

[Petucky]

I was just wondering why the Country Variants are often approved later than the operator ones? I understand that operators need some time to test, but who approves the CV's?
And actually, why the ops need to approve it if I can still buy a phone in different country and happily use it with that operator.
Also, why can Apple announce a new iOS version and all users around the globe can update their devices the same evening? Same applies to Nexus devices.

 

[WanderingTraveler]

It seems that they have to prioritize the carrier variants in order to have the update as soon as possible. Other that, or money.

For why they need to approve it, regulatory institutions and quality control, my friend.

For the third question, we have to go through the carriers because the devices are optimized for their hardware. Apple gets to bypass by virtue of sheer popularity.

 

[Petucky]

Well I could still use a device with version not approved for their network, just by buying it elsewhere, so still don't see a point.
I've had cell phones since 1997 and there was no such thing as operators approving firmware updates, for all those years - and the updates were released pretty often - whether it was Nokia, Ericsson, Siemens or whoever else.

 

[WanderingTraveler]

You're correct. I was only pointing out the answer Nokia would've given in thus situation.

 

[denzilla]

Well I could still use a device with version not approved for their network, just by buying it elsewhere, so still don't see a point.
I've had cell phones since 1997 and there was no such thing as operators approving firmware updates, for all those years - and the updates were released pretty often - whether it was Nokia, Ericsson, Siemens or whoever else.

It's either due to phones being less complex back then or somewhere along the line, carriers were given control over something they never should've had. I'm going to assume that there are standards for CDMA, GSM, LTE, 3G, etc. Phone manufacturers should be able to demonstrate their product abides by these standards and that's about all the carrier should be entitled to. If you're running your mobile network in some hacked, half-assed configuration that doesn't conform to standards, then maybe you as a carrier should get your house in order.

All of this is coming from someone with zero experience in the wireless industry, so I'm probably wrong