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

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modular747: Thanks for trying to contribute to this topic, but might as well have saved the effort, as your reaction is of no value at all. Go study some EU law and then come back. The world is bigger than the USA, you know.

EU law is not relevant to this forum. Talk to a lawyer if you believe it is. It can't be discussed here.

Actually, I do know enough about EU law to know that you are as abjectly ignorant of it as everything else you post. Your "position" that somehow Apple is obligated to support LTE in whatever local carrier that occurs to you is no more than 100% self-serving fabrication.

If Apple wants to sell an LTE phone, they should adhere to the LTE standard. There's still something like "fair competition", which means they may not lock out certain carriers. Also, advertising LTE capabilities while the device cannot connect to the available LTE network is illegal (see Australian iPad 4G case). Don't talk about things you don't know anything about, you're only embarrassing yourself.

If that's what you believe, then CALL A LAWYER.

Whether you believe it is fair comptetion or not is not relevant to the purpose of these forums.

Total nonsense. Bovine excrement of the highest purity. If the carrier doesn't support LTE to the correct standard, the phone manufacturer has no obligation to support their substandard service. It is you and your corrupt & lying troll mates who are digging themselves even deeper. Surrounding yourself with the cognatively challenged doesn't raise you up to the rest of the world.

@modular747:

Proximus supports the official LTE 1800 MHz standard, just like the iPhone 5. If you would actually have read this topic, instead of just jumping in to troll, you would have known that Apple programmed the iPhone 5 in such a way that they need to give their permission for every LTE network before the iPhone 5 can connect to it.

@jRix:

Now THAT's interesting!

I'm very well aware if what's been going on. The fact remains that Apple (or any other phone manufacturer) has the right to test and approve any carrier before officially supporting it. The fact that the carrier (or even YOU) claims the sevice is compliant is irrelevant. Your ranting and sniveling about Apple not supporting Proximous LTE until they tested it is the trolling here. It's completely legal and appropriat for Apple to do so. .

In the EU, it is certainly NOT legal if a device is advertised and sold as an unlocked LTE-equipped phone, only for the LTE to be disabled. Whatever kiltedTim and his knuckle-dragging cohorts think, this is both misleading and unethical behaviour on the part of Apple, and debatably serves no useful purpose other than to make them look bad.

Devil's advocate answer, but ...

Show me where the iPhone 5 is marketed/advertised as being compatible with 4G/LTE on this page: http://www.apple.com/benl/iphone/features/

It isn't.

Good catch. In fact, for those who haven't gone to look, the translation for the relevant section reads:

iPhone 5 supports more networks worldwide. That means advanced networks as HSPA, HSPA + and DC-HSDPA, so incredibly fast browsing, downloading and streaming. Dual-band 802.11n connectivity also puts your Wi-Fi experience into high gear - up to 150 Mbps.

There is no mention of LTE at all.

On the specifications page, LTE is mentioned, but with the following footnote:

** Please contact your service provider and check http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE more about LTE support.

The important question will be what information is provided in the stores where these unlocked phones were bought. Also, don't forget, this kind of restriction in an unlocked phone is unheard of in the EU, so it's not something that most people would even have considered as being likely to be a problem in the first place.

Why would the information provided in a store be of any importance?

Users that need advice from someone in a store are not likely to have any clue as to what 2G/3G/4G is...

I presonally have not had one single positive experience with a sales person in any shop whatsoever. Most of the time they don't even have a clue about the technological aspects of the stuff they're selling...