Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

[jakreid]

You realize it takes 2 to make a business decision. If you truly do want to take a stand and support the product then switch carriers. Quickest way to get a business to change their minds/policies is by hitting them without your buying power. The way Verizon has treated WP in the past I do not blame MSFT one bit for not putting CDMA radios in the device so that it will work on their network.

I totally get your point here, however, Microsoft should've at least made this phone capable of working on Verizon's network It has a large market share of US Networks if not the largest. That way the ball would've been in Verizon's court, and we the customers of Verizon would actually have a case here stating that Verizon has no excuse not to carry this phone. No doubt Verizon has treated the platform horribly, but even if this phone got "blacklisted" if MS puts the CDMA radios in the phone even at a loss on their part, Verizon is the bad guy here and its customers like us who want this phone can effectively pressure them to get it.

 

[Lokified]

That was before they went to no contract... now they don't care as much and just want you to use their service. They just never thought they would end up being in a position where they didn't provide the phone.

 

[MikeSo]

He's talking about this:

This is in fact misinformation. Verizon does not, and will not, block any compatible unlocked phone. In fact, while they technically could, there's no way they would. They'd have the FCC all over them in a heartbeat. They would have to blacklist them, like they do for phones that aren't paid for or are stolen.

I don't think we need to rehash what "supporting" and "whitelisting" mean. They are different than "allowing." You should at least change your terminology. A phone does not have to be supported or whitelisted to work on Verizon.

In general, not just about phones, to have a list of things that are specifically allowed is generally called "whitelisting" vs having a list of things that are specifically NOT allowed is "blacklisting". That's the common use of the words everywhere.

We'll just have to agree to disagree about how to define what Verizon does. They will not accept a new activation of a device that they haven't explicitly allowed on their network. You can work around that if they will keep letting you, but that's the fact. I don't know why we still argue that fact. The FCC doesn't care about that the least as far as I know, not when Verizon did it and not when Sprint does it. Do you have any sources that the FCC is concerned about networks not allowing some phones? If I'm wrong, I'd like to be corrected.

I have a non-Verizon Nexus 6, and I have never activated it. I don't know if GSM carriers HAVE to allow a phone, and I don't know if Verizon HAS to allow a phone. I do know that they both do allow any unlocked compatible phone.

Did you buy your phone from Google Play? Verizon do explicitly allow those, so if you do that's why it works there. If it's not from there, you had to activate it on the Verizon network by faking an IMEI from an approved Verizon phone and put an already activated SIM into your Nexus. Otherwise it won't work. Again, if there is evidence somewhere to the contrary, please point me to it. I'd like to be corrected if I'm wrong. I have not seen any.

Yes, GSM networks have to accept all phones. That's how the GSM standard works.

 

[Eric Chew]

So apparently the MS stores have working demo units. Has anyone asked if they could drop their VZW SIM in one temporarily to see if it works on the network?

 

[MikeSo]

So apparently the MS stores have working demo units. Has anyone asked if they could drop their VZW SIM in one temporarily to see if it works on the network?

Hehe that would be a way to test, right? I might have to ask!

 

[tgp]

In general, not just about phones, to have a list of things that are specifically allowed is generally called "whitelisting" vs having a list of things that are specifically NOT allowed is "blacklisting". That's the common use of the words everywhere.

We'll just have to agree to disagree about how to define what Verizon does. They will not accept a new activation of a device that they haven't explicitly allowed on their network. You can work around that if they will keep letting you, but that's the fact. I don't know why we still argue that fact. The FCC doesn't care about that the least as far as I know, not when Verizon did it and not when Sprint does it. Do you have any sources that the FCC is concerned about networks not allowing some phones? If I'm wrong, I'd like to be corrected.

OK, then what you write doesn't mean the same as what you are thinking. You say "allow" when you should say "support". To me, not allowing means that it will not work; it will be blocked. The way you say "not allow", that makes me think along the lines of "blacklist". Maybe my English comprehension is bad!

I do not know about the legality of blocking phones, but as far as I know Verizon has never done it. What makes you think they would?

Did you buy your phone from Google Play? Verizon do explicitly allow those, so if you do that's why it works there.

I bought my phone from Motorola. I bought it before Verizon even carried the Nexus 6.

If it's not from there, you had to activate it on the Verizon network by faking an IMEI from an approved Verizon phone and put an already activated SIM into your Nexus. Otherwise it won't work.

Ha ha yeah we've both been saying this all along and arguing about it! Again, this is where I differ from you in what "allow" means. You say that a phone that fits this description is not allowed. I say it is allowed, but not supported/whitelisted.

 

[phelme]

Mary Jo Foley and Paul Thurrott talked a bit about this on Windows Weekly yesterday. Mary Jo said she asked around after the event and was told that while there are LTE bands that work on Verizon, the CDMA bands were not present so handshaking would be a problem in some areas. And both she and Paul said they think MS is done dealing with Verizon due to lack of past support of the platform.

If this ends up being true, it is a bit sad, as others have said, they could have added the CDMA bands to give the option to people who want to try to get it activated there. It would make Microsoft look a bit better too, but now it almost seems like MS is "shaming" Verizon. And unfortunately, WP users will suffer on that carrier.

 

[atst44]

Everyone, Stop hoping... Please go to the correct pages to get the information. This is the page you need to visit to see it DOES NOT have CDMA!

www (DOT) microsoft (DOT) com/en-us/mobile/phones/compare/?action=productcompareaction&products=5966760-4165842-4185196

(Cannot post links yet, yawn...)
Notice the lack of Band 13 LTE and a BLANK CDMA section.
Now that that's over, when will Verizon stop screwing us?

 

[msft_tinkering]

Apparently it was said at the event that "Microsoft will work with the carriers that worked with us."
Does anyone here ever remember Verizon working with Microsoft?

 

[dorelse]

I know this is about the 950XL & Verizon, but HTC has a launch event on 10/20 for the HTC One A9...they were also listed as a partner in Computex this summer for Win10 Mobile. Do I think we're gonna see the One m9 for Windows announced then, dunno, but HTC did say in April they were continuing with WM10....so maybe they're bringing CDMA phones to market.

I'd prefer the 950 line as well, but none of the other carriers cover one area I need covered...its Verizon or Sprint...

 

[chasvs]

Well then let's HOPE for a Surface Phone early next year! Maybe VZW will decide to carry that or MSFT will just include the CDMA/LTE required Radios so we can BOOD the Surface Phone to VZW!

 

[tgp]

So apparently the MS stores have working demo units. Has anyone asked if they could drop their VZW SIM in one temporarily to see if it works on the network?

Someone on Reddit claims to have done it. This goes directly to his comment, but you can click view the rest of the comments right above it to get the entire thread.

My Microsoft sales rep was emphatic that the 950 line will work on any carrier.

 

[xrs22]

Someone on Reddit claims to have done it. This goes directly to his comment, but you can click view the rest of the comments right above it to get the entire thread.

My Microsoft sales rep was emphatic that the 950 line will work on any carrier.

Booom! Dream popped.

 

[David Fleetwood]

Without Verizon WP has no chance in the US. AT&T is now barely ahead of TMo in terms of subscriber base, and if you combined both of them you only just reach the subscriber numbers of VZ. I do not know what the problem there is, but without VZ Microsoft is dead in the water in the US.

What makes me sad is that I can't leave VZ, nor do I really want to. The network really is *that* much better. I'll ride my Icon as long as I can, if MS hasn't managed to work it out by then I doubt it will matter much as it will mean MS is ready to abandon phones. They can't hang on with only AT&T.

 

[upsidedown]

Unfortunately, Verizon has figured out that most folks will value their service over their device so they aren't worrying about lost customers by not offering these device. I hope someone from Verizon and Microsoft are reading this and will work this out but I do not have high hopes.

 

[GodsTexan]

Everyone, Stop hoping... Please go to the correct pages to get the information. This is the page you need to visit to see it DOES NOT have CDMA!

www (DOT) microsoft (DOT) com/en-us/mobile/phones/compare/?action=productcompareaction&products=5966760-4165842-4185196

(Cannot post links yet, yawn...)
Notice the lack of Band 13 LTE and a BLANK CDMA section.
Now that that's over, when will Verizon stop screwing us?

I'm not sure why you weren't seeing a list of Bands under CDMA, but I do for both the Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950XL.

Here is my Comparison (sorry, can't use links yet!):

www(dot)microsoft(dot)com/en-us/mobile/phones/compare/?action=productcompareaction&products=5970740-5966760​

And this is what's listed for both phones:

WCDMA network
Band 1 (2100 MHz)
Band 2 (1900 MHz)
Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz)
Band 5 (850 MHz)
Band 8 (900 MHz)
​

 

[to_be_announced]

I'm not sure why you weren't seeing a list of Bands under CDMA, but I do for both the Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950XL.

Here is my Comparison (sorry, can't use links yet!):

www(dot)microsoft(dot)com/en-us/mobile/phones/compare/?action=productcompareaction&products=5970740-5966760​

And this is what's listed for both phones:

WCDMA network
Band 1 (2100 MHz)
Band 2 (1900 MHz)
Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz)
Band 5 (850 MHz)
Band 8 (900 MHz)
​

It's been mentioned in this article MULTIPLE TIMES. WCDMA and CDMA are NOT THE SAME.

 

[primortal]

WCDMA != CDMA, Difference Between CDMA and WCDMA | Difference Between | CDMA vs WCDMA

 

[Eric Chew]

I just went into deep depression!

 

[Dueydoodah]

Thanks for the history, but we had been "hoping" that Microsoft would fulfill their "rumored promise" from almost 6 months ago to "go direct" with UNLOCKED phones!

If it;'s rumored, how can it even be considered a promise?