LTE not available on LTE enabled network in Belgium (Belgacom)

I can tell you that there are not going to do anything in a Belgacom Shop...

In fact, nobody at the exception of Apple can do anything...But I still wonder why some device can and why some devices CANNOT! This is so strange..

You don't need to do anything, 4G is already activated for Generation Connect, as you can see on this page if you click on "Smartphone": http://www.belgacom.be/4g

Apple just needs to activate the LTE switch, that's all. Actually, they should enable that switch by default for all unknown carriers, just like they do with "personal hotspot"!

They are talking about other countries (= other than the country where you bought the iPhone). What they mean, is that there are different models of the iPhone 5, that support different LTE frequencies. E.g. you cannot use the U.S. GSM model (A1428) on LTE networks in Europe and vice versa.

NaS3DaMuS wrote:

As a proximus client for more than 12 years: I AM DISAPPOINTED

As an Apple fanboy for more than 10years: I AM DISAPPOINTED

Why; In the first case because Proximus/belgacom did not think about launching 4G and what devices are commonly spread at launch; By far the iPhone 5 is the most distributed device capable of LTE/4G

So why didn't they pay their license to Apple so they would have been apple the activation? (I know this thanks to my best m8 who is a manager @ Mobistar, stating they enjoy this .. because their competitor easily could have paid ..)

On the other side common Apple, this irritates a large consumer base more and more, the bigger your machine (company) becomes the more arrogant you behave! I have no problem you, Apple wants to upsell most of their products, however a lockin of your customers in this way will only result in anarchism against Apple!!

For the US tweeps on this board; We pay lots and lots of Euro's to have an unlocked phone, meaning we are able to use ALL features on the Operator we choose; Perhaps we all here should think about hiring a lawyer!

Most irritating is the fact 2 so called professional companies, are very amateurish regarding communicating with their clients! In other words both of you #FAIL

Proximus only needs to pay for an LTE license to BIPT (Belgian Institute for Postal services and Telecommunications), not to Apple. That's the way things work in the telecom industry.

If Apple asks money from each carrier to enable LTE for them on the iPhone 5, then it would be fair enough if Sony, Samsung, Nokia, HTC and others would do the same. Soon, an LTE-enabled subscription would become impossibly expensive for most people, because of all the "licenses" a carrier would need to pay to each phone manufacturer.

<Edited by Host>

Why don't you try reading the Terms of Service that you agreed to when you signed up here. Maybe then you'll understand.

These user forums are not a democracy. If you don't like it go find another forum.

The problem is that there is no better alternative than the iPhone. Except from our issue here, the phone is perfect in my opinion. But let's hope that the update will be pushed with the official release of iOS 6.1, which should take a couple of weeks more now (I hope).

I'm glad that I'm getting the e-mail notifications of the censored messages nick-1989 is posting.

Nick if you can not post your actions here then post them on the Belgian democratic blog.

http://userbase.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=77&t=35834

You have to enter the APN settings manually anyhow, but then you can only connect to 2G and 3G networks, no 4G/LTE. To enable LTE, you need a valid (= signed by Apple) carrier bundle with this key:

<key>Show4GSwitch</key>

<true/>

It's insane to program an unlocked smartphone in such a way that it only connects to LTE networks that have been pre-approved. No other phone manufacturer would do silly things like that.

Wat mij vooral stoort is dat die LTE aanpassing voor hen waarschijnlijk slechts 1 minuut werk vergt.

Maar dat ze toch de tijd vinden om dit forum zo streng te controleren.

Het is voor mij overduidelijk dat Apple hier van slechte wil is.

Why does everybody get so worked up about this?

The 4G network only became available recently, Belgium can hardly be considered a big market (it's just small in terms of number of people) and apple does not prevent you from buying any other phone that supports the 4G immediately.

I know it's quite ****** not to be able to use the network, while you know your phone can support it, but I'm sure they'll update the carrier settings soon enough and you know when you buy any apple product that you will be part of their 'controlled environment' in many ways... probably the most annoying thing in their policy... but as long as they provide us with the best products in the market (in terms of design and usability in general) we'll keep on buying them and have to accept their policies...

It's just the way it works people... shouldn't surprise anyone and I hardly think they'll be trembling on their feet because of some lame threats made on this forum.

Be patient and in the mean time get a life ;-)

Kevin, there's still something like laws against false advertising (e.g. selling an LTE phone that cannot connect to certain LTE networks) and unfair competition (e.g. keeping LTE disabled for Proximus due to agreements between Apple and Mobistar). Even Apple has to abide by these laws. Failure to do so, can result in huge fines (e.g. € 860 million). The size of the market is not an argument at all, given it would only take a couple of minutes to enable LTE for Proximus.

Think you'll have a hard argument selling that in court.

The phone is perfectly usable on all operator networks (it's just the 4G that does not seem to get activated for now). And as there are no competing networks offering any 4G they are not causing any unfair competition as of yet. The disclaimer 'some services are possibly not available in all countries or on all networks' will probably be more than enough legal protection.

On top of that european law would in case of any breach of it only fine, in accordance to breach... that would never be nearly the amount you mentioned above.

Believe me apple is doing nothing illegal. On top of that I think they'll activate this **** at some point in time, but know your position, you are a customer in a small area of a non partner network... with no legal grounds to sue them at all... so you'll just have to be patient.

It's a matter of prioritisation. Not about not caring. US, China, Brazil, Germany, UK... as a company you need to prioritize your developments according to revenue. I still don't think not activating a network within a couple of days after launch of it counts as not caring.

And yes in the end... no company (and especially not a big multinational) genuinely cares about a customer, only about the revenue that customer can generate... welcome to capitalism... it's been around some time.

Guess you are having the wrong expectations from a company.

And I guess the one threathening lawsuits to apple (david vs golliath) and whining non stop about it on these forums... is the real credible one... hahaha...

3 weeks is a very short time span.

Well guess there's no arguing with you guys... good luck with the courtcase, I'll read about it in the worldwide press I'm sure... hahaha...

What everyone seems to forget is that there are currently 50+ people using an iPhone 5 with a Proximus nanoSIM that are connected to the 4G Proximus network. Why these people have access is unknown...

Their Carrier Update is 13.0, iOS 6.0.1 or 6.0, etc.

I myself did some tests with Auka (from the discussion) and on EDGE my iPhone refused to connect to the 1800Mhz antenna's. The 4G network is also 1800Mhz, so maybe the 1800Mhz is locked somehow on most of the iPhone 5's?