Role of carrier in windows phone 8.1 deploy?

[PimpBot5001]

I've been impatiently waiting for the official 8.1 deploy, and decided to live chat my carrier (virgin mobile canada) to see if they even have any intention of deploying it. Here is what was said:

Me: Given that you no longer sell any models of Windows Phone, do you still have plans to deploy the Windows Phone 8.1 software update to your existing Windows Phone customers?
Isidro: Regarding your concern, for your device software. This is provided by the manufacturer directly.
Me: Ok, my manufacturer is HTC. So you're saying that they will deploy it to me directly, and that virgin mobile has no involvement whatsoever with the deploy?
Isidro: Yes that is correct.

Is there any truth to what I'm being told? I have a feeling that if I contacted HTC, they would tell me that the 8.1 deploy "is provided by the carrier directly"...

 

[badr0b0t]

I've been impatiently waiting for the official 8.1 deploy, and decided to live chat my carrier (virgin mobile canada) to see if they even have any intention of deploying it. Here is what was said:

Me: Given that you no longer sell any models of Windows Phone, do you still have plans to deploy the Windows Phone 8.1 software update to your existing Windows Phone customers?
Isidro: Regarding your concern, for your device software. This is provided by the manufacturer directly.
Me: Ok, my manufacturer is HTC. So you're saying that they will deploy it to me directly, and that virgin mobile has no involvement whatsoever with the deploy?
Isidro: Yes that is correct.

Is there any truth to what I'm being told? I have a feeling that if I contacted HTC, they would tell me that the 8.1 deploy "is provided by the carrier directly"...

Yes. That is TRUE.
I have a Nokia Lumia 1520 that is not released to any carrier here in Toronto. I got a Hong Kong Country Variant and there is no carrier that will ever seed the Cyan update. But 3 weeks ago, the Cyan OTA update was released by Nokia here in Canada and I was able to update mine. Unfortunately, it seems that Microsoft is giving priority to their own hardware (Nokia) so it may take a bit longer for other manufacturers. I actually thought I would be one of the last to get the Cyan update as there is no carrier for the Lumia 1520 here in Canada.

Rest assured that a carrier isn't necessary to get Cyan. It is just all a matter of time.





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[EspHack]

all I have to say is I hate the word "carrier-operator-telefonica" etc, they are just a freakin problem for us consumers, scammers with no morals and they get in the way of progress like no other corporation in the world, just look at my case, I have a lumia 928 that is factory unlocked and im living in the Caribbean, there is LTE deployed already and here is the thing, they use the band 4 aka 1700/2100 AWS, the phone is completely capable of using those bands, but the friendly Verizon wont let it happen, for some reason the 928 had those LTE bands disabled(even though the FCC approved it) and there is no update whatsoever to enable them, so that's how you **** the consumer, nokia wont take care of it because Verizon is the real owner of the phone(not me) and Verizon would say it is "coming soon" or that it is nokia's responsibility to update it, or nothing at all, this is when a company like apple gets all my damn praises..

 

[Hypnopottamus]

This really all depends what ROM your phone is running. Did you get your phone as a carrier specific device locked to that carrier (i.e. with that carriers ROM on it)? Or is it an unlocked Country Variant (CV)? If it is through a carrier specific device locked to that carrier, then it is up to that specific carrier to release the update for your device. If it is an unlocked Country Variant, it is released when your region's update is released. The easiest way to tell what ROM your phone is running is:
Settings--->about
Under the "Carrier" section it should tell you if it's a carrier specific device. Country Variants (CV) usually have "CV country" (Mine says CV GB, for Country Variant Great Britain). If your's is locked to a Carrier and is running that carrier's ROM it will say it (for example, AT&T locked devices will say "Carrier: AT&T Wireless")

 

[PimpBot5001]

Did you get your phone as a carrier specific device locked to that carrier (i.e. with that carriers ROM on it)?

Yes. I purchased my phone from Virgin Mobile Canada, and it is locked to them.

It seems like it should be common sense for the status of the 8.1 deploy to be posted on both the manufacturer's and carrier's websites, kind of like this:
Availability in North America - Nokia

Of course, because I made the mistake of buying an htc phone the above website is of no help to me...

 

[MikeSo]

Yes. I purchased my phone from Virgin Mobile Canada, and it is locked to them.

It seems like it should be common sense for the status of the 8.1 deploy to be posted on both the manufacturer's and carrier's websites, kind of like this:
Availability in North America - Nokia

Of course, because I made the mistake of buying an htc phone the above website is of no help to me...

Naturally, because that website is NOT about WP8.1, but about Nokia firmware and is not related to the OS version.

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