Can you put the global version on a US carrier?

[Kevin Spring]

So this is another AT&T exclusive... Global- 32Gb storage, AT&T- 16Gb storage, Global- built in wireless charging, AT&T, none. Also, AT&T's page lists the screen as amoled instead of LCD. With all these deviations from the flagship phone revealed by Nokia today, I started wondering, can I buy the international version and then put it on a US carrier such as AT&T or Tmobile?

 

[erzhik]

You can but you will only get LTE if it has supported frequencies.

 

[PB_H]

You mean can you buy an unlocked global version and use it on TM's or ATT's network ? yes

 

[Joe Acerbic]

Nope, at least not T-Mobile. elop's Nokia is really meticulous about not making any version of it fully compatible with T-Mo.

 

[Kevin Spring]

yes, that is what I meant, I was planning on buying it full price from at&t and then putting it on tmobile. I've heard that they have relaxed their 6 month rule about not unlocking phones. I spoke with a AT&T rep who confirmed that they would give the unlock code, but I was rather dissapointed with the reduced AT&T specs, especially wireless charging and storage.

 

[erzhik]

yes, that is what I meant, I was planning on buying it full price from at&t and then putting it on tmobile. I've heard that they have relaxed their 6 month rule about not unlocking phones. I spoke with a AT&T rep who confirmed that they would give the unlock code, but I was rather dissapointed with the reduced AT&T specs, especially wireless charging and storage.

Well reduced specs are not confirmed yet. We won't know until AT&T makes an official announcement with pre-order page (Microsoft's been known for their typos). And yes, you can take an AT&T device and put it on T-Mobile, but we will have to wait and see if that device will support T-Mobile's LTE frequency. 1020 supports and I don't see why 1520 won't. However, it will probably not support T-Mobile's 3G frequency, therefore if there is no LTE in your area, the phone will drop to 2G (same as 1020). If you want both LTE and 3G, you will have to wait for PentaBand version that supports all frequencies.

 

[Kevin Spring]

I checked the global specs against tmobile's network and they don't match up well. LTE would not be available at all, and you'd essentially be limited to roaming on at&t's 3g network. bummer

 

[Kevin Spring]

Also, doesn't the 1020 support tmobile's 4gLTE and 3g HSPA+, so in theory you should drop to hspa+ if your area doesn't have LTE?

 

[erzhik]

Also, doesn't the 1020 support tmobile's 4gLTE and 3g HSPA+, so in theory you should drop to hspa+ if your area doesn't have LTE?

Only the pentaband version sold on Rogers. Not AT&T version. AT&T 1020 supports T-Mobile's LTE, but not 3G.

 

[Kevin Spring]

I might be mistaken, but the page I'm looking at says that after the failed merger, Tmobile got a 7 year contract to roam on the 850 3g band of AT&T, so why wouldn't it just roam onto that 3g spectrum instead of dropping to 2g?

 

[Joe Acerbic]

Even if you manage to get an unlocked Rogers pentaband version and smuggle it through the merciless Nokia Iron Curtain to the oppressed denizens of T-Mobile, most likely features like wifi hotspot will never work.

 

[erzhik]

I might be mistaken, but the page I'm looking at says that after the failed merger, Tmobile got a 7 year contract to roam on the 850 3g band of AT&T, so why wouldn't it just roam onto that 3g spectrum instead of dropping to 2g?

This is where it gets complicated. As far as I know, it will only roam on AT&T's 3G for voice, not data. And then, it only roams on AT&T's 3G frequency in select areas where T-Mobile's 3G is not present. So if you are in native T-Mobile area, it will use T-Mobile bands. And if I am mistaken and T-Mobile has access to AT&T's 3G DATA, then you would still be throttled down to 2G speed.

 

[Kevin Spring]

This is where it gets complicated. As far as I know, it will only roam on AT&T's 3G for voice, not data. And then, it only roams on AT&T's 3G frequency in select areas where T-Mobile's 3G is not present. So if you are in native T-Mobile area, it will use T-Mobile bands. And if I am mistaken and T-Mobile has access to AT&T's 3G DATA, then you would still be throttled down to 2G speed.

So it sounds like the best option is to just pony up the money for the AT&T version and hope they let me unlock it to Tmobile )my area has 4g LTE

 

[erzhik]

So it sounds like the best option is to just pony up the money for the AT&T version and hope they let me unlock it to Tmobile )my area has 4g LTE

That's one of the options if you don't want to wait for Rogers.

 

[Kevin Spring]

I'm not that familiar with rogers, how long would you estimate that to be based on past experience?

 

[AR2186]

Well reduced specs are not confirmed yet. We won't know until AT&T makes an official announcement with pre-order page (Microsoft's been known for their typos). And yes, you can take an AT&T device and put it on T-Mobile, but we will have to wait and see if that device will support T-Mobile's LTE frequency. 1020 supports and I don't see why 1520 won't. However, it will probably not support T-Mobile's 3G frequency, therefore if there is no LTE in your area, the phone will drop to 2G (same as 1020). If you want both LTE and 3G, you will have to wait for PentaBand version that supports all frequencies.

AT&T's network uses a number of frequencies for LTE, including T-Mobile's, so every AT&T phone should work on the T-Mobile network. Verizon also shares the band and is lighting up their LTE network as we speak

 

[apalm8]

Yes, I believe you can.

 

[erzhik]

I'm not that familiar with rogers, how long would you estimate that to be based on past experience?

If we look at 1020, that will take several months AFTER it is released on AT&T.

 

[mtmjr90]

Seems like there's a lot of confusion here...my understanding is that any AT&T LTE compatible phone will work on T-Mo's LTE network (assuming it's available). That is, all AT&T LTE devices are compatible with Band 4 (AWS) and T-Mo's LTE network is only Band 4. For what it's worth Verizon is also strengthening it's Band 4 LTE presence and will be putting out devices which operate on that band imminently.

Any phone compatible with AT&T's HSPA+ network will also work on T-Mo's HSPA+ network, so long as you're in a refarmed area where T-Mo is using 1900MHz HSPA+ (which to my understanding is most major markets now). Unless of course you're rocking a pentaband HSPA+ device (or quad-band 850/1700/1900/2100MHz), in which case you'll get access to T-Mo's faster DC-HSPA+ network. Otherwise, you'll get EDGE data. You will have no problem with voice/SMS regardless.

It's probably not a good idea to try to figure out which hardware variants will work where until we get official spec sheets since these details are very frequently inaccurate even up to device launch.

 

[Kevin Spring]

Seems like there's a lot of confusion here...my understanding is that any AT&T LTE compatible phone will work on T-Mo's LTE network (assuming it's available). That is, all AT&T LTE devices are compatible with Band 4 (AWS) and T-Mo's LTE network is only Band 4. For what it's worth Verizon is also strengthening it's Band 4 LTE presence and will be putting out devices which operate on that band imminently.

Any phone compatible with AT&T's HSPA+ network will also work on T-Mo's HSPA+ network, so long as you're in a refarmed area where T-Mo is using 1900MHz HSPA+ (which to my understanding is most major markets now). Unless of course you're rocking a pentaband HSPA+ device (or quad-band 850/1700/1900/2100MHz), in which case you'll get access to T-Mo's faster DC-HSPA+ network. Otherwise, you'll get EDGE data. You will have no problem with voice/SMS regardless.

It's probably not a good idea to try to figure out which hardware variants will work where until we get official spec sheets since these details are very frequently inaccurate even up to device launch.

here's the official AT&T page for the phone, all it really tells me is that wireless charging will definitely not be included.
Nokia Lumia 1520 - New Nokia Windows Phone with 6'' Display from AT&T