Hopefully Good News From Virgin Mobile. (UK)

[Ian Too]

I thought I'd get on to Virgin Mobile and see what was happening with the GDR2/Black update for my Lunia 620 and have decided to publish the letters here for your information. Hopefully, I've got Virgin either to correct an oversight or amend a policy.

On 1st May I sent the following:

Hello,

I have two questions.

The first is about over the air upgrades to mobile devices, in this
case a Nokia Lumia 620. Nokia and Microsoft released the GDR2/Black
update for all Windows Phones during February and March this year and
this has been passed on to owners in the vast majority of cases. See
here:

Availability in Europe - Nokia

What I would like to know is when this update will be available for
my device, which is under a year old. You have pushed it for the
Lumia 625, so I'd like to know what the problem is. Also, how will
this affect the Windows Phone 8.1 release, which is due over the
summer.

My second question regards 4G, which I'm surprised you haven't begun
to roll out, given that you use the T-Mobile network and they are
part of EE. When do you propose to roll this out and will there be
any premium?

Please bare in mind that answers to this email will affect whether or
not I stay with Virgin Mobile, as blocking the updates for mobile
devices adversely affects the resale value of the device, the
device's security and utility. Also, I'm currently paying a lot in
extra charges because the data allowance is restrictive. I am not
happy.

Regards,
Ian(REDACTED).

The Next Day I received this response:

Hello Ian,
I called you today regarding your email enquiring about 4G and the up grades from Nokia for the Nokia 620. I was unable to talk to you and left a voicemail.
As you probably know, Virgin do not push or select any software updates for any make of phone. That would be down to the manufacturers to do and explain. Virgin are a network provider, so supply you with the ability to make calls, send texts and connect to the internet. Virgin certainly do not block any software updates to mobile phones.
To answer your second question. Virgin don't offer or have any plans to offer a 4G service. If there any plans to offer 4G in the future then it will be announced in advance from our website.
I trust this information was useful to you.
Kind regards,

Matthew Crompton
Virgin Media

I've always been impressed by Virgin service, which is why I've stayed with them since 2000, but clearly what Mathew said in his reply is wrong, so I decided to push again:

Hello Matthew,

Thank you for getting back to me, I appreciate the time you have taken and I'm sorry for not answering your call. I'm not able to take calls at work.

I also understand that there doesn't seem to be any plans for Virgin Mobile to offer 4G. It's disappointing, but that is that.

Regarding the updates, did you follow the link from my original email? Here are listed the various models of Lumia device supplied by providers throughout Europe and you will see that every provider in the UK has approved the updates for every device type with the exception of Vodaphone for the Lumia 820 and Virgin for the 620, where these devices are listed as Waiting for Approval. Clearly, someone somewhere has to approve the updates and if not Virgin, then who? Could it be T-Mobile? If so, then as their client, it's up to Virgin to find out where the blockage is.

Cold you possibly do some research or pass this on to whoever is responsible. Since the Lumia 625 has passed through the process, someone clearly does know.

Thanks again,
Ian(STILL REDACTED).

Mathew obviously was kind enough to pass my query on, because today I received the following response. Put your tea/coffee down before reading on:

Hello Ian,
Good to hear back from you and thank you for responding to my colleague, Matthew's email. It's great to see you're interested in updating the software on your mobile phone and I'm happy to explain on how it works.
As a company we tend to allow other network providers to release their updates first so we can see if there are any viruses on the update so as not to affect our customers mobile phones.
Once the update has been approved and is available we'll let you know by sending you a text with a link for you to upgrade your mobile phone.

I hope this information helps and you have a nice Bank holiday.

Regards,

Sheryl Darlington
Virgin Media

I have to admit to feeling like my nose is saying a large male bovine recently passed by, which is why I thought you'd like to read this lot. I am however, grateful to Virgin for giving me a meaningful and hopeful response. I sent one last missive:

Dear Sheryl,

Thanks for your response and your offer to text me when the update is available. I'll look forward to receiving it.

Can you tell me if we 620 owners will get the 8.1/Cyan update, which rolls out this summer?

Finally, would it be okay for me to share this email exchange on the WP Central forums website so other 620 users there can follow our progress?

Regards,
Ian(YES, REDACTED AGAIN)

Finally, I received the following, which I think you'l agree is at least hopeful that we Virgin Mobile customers will get upgrades as long as Microsoft issue them:

Hello Ian,
Great to hear back from you and I'm happy I answered your last query about the software updates on your mobile phone.

Usually we tend to get the latest updates from the manufacturer and again they go trough the approval process.
As an example for you, when the Icecream sandwich came out for the Samsung mobile we got on to it straight away for our customers to receive the most up to date spec. for them to download.
I can't give you an exact date of when the new 8.1 Cyan update will be available to us but as soon as it is we'll let our customers know.
If you decide to put the information on your central forum that's entirely at your discretion and I can't see a problem with it.
I hope this information helps and you're running on the latest Cyan update soon.
Kind regards,

Sheryl Darlington
Virgin Media

Thanks again, Sheryl and Mathew for your help.

Fingers crossed eh?

 

[BIGPADDY]

Looks promising!

 

[Ian Too]

Downloading GDR3/Black update on my Virgin Lumia 620 now.

It appears to have worked.

 

[BIGPADDY]

Downloading GDR3/Black update on my Virgin Lumia 620 now.

It appears to have worked.

Good stuff glad to hear!

Nice to know virgin updating there WP devices.

 

[constantinosmi]

Even if they do not update your phone you are able to flash your phone with the country variant which will get the update. Or am I wrong? :winktongue:

 

[Ian Too]

Even if they do not update your phone you are able to flash your phone with the country variant which will get the update. Or am I wrong? :winktongue:

It certainly would make updating easier for people like us, but it does invalidate the warranty and is no use to the average user.

Do you have the link, btw?

 

[constantinosmi]

I don't have it but you can always search for it. I think it was a guide flashing a Lumia 920 but the procedure is very similar.