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

@GeertCU

I did what you suggested. And I was surprised. They called me within 5 seconds that I had place the call.

The person from the callcenter told me that the iPhone itself does not block 4G for any providers. The iPhone doesn't need a carrierupdate either (at least that's what he told me). He said that the problem probably was that my abonnement with Proximus was not 4G compatible or that the 4G option was not enabled for my number at proximus.

When I told him that I have the correct abonnement and that the option has been activated he asked me if I could go through a few steps with him.

I told him that I had already tried almost everything.

He then suggested me to set up the iphone as a NEW iphone, without putting my backup back, as the backup may be corrupted and may be blocking the 4G from being enabled.

This is the only advice he could give me as extra as I explained him all the other things that I already have done.

So who wants to volunteer and setup there iphone as a new one ;-)

I'm afraid to try it out, to find out that it doesn't work and then having to put all my stuff back manually.

And to put things in perspective, the person was at a callcenter in the Netherlands I think. So it is not a specialist from the Apple Headquarters. So I'm not even sure if he knows all the details of how it works or should work.

Anyway I'll give it a try.

Well if it works, I'm sure he will have a lot of stalkers spamming him to know how he did it ;-)

PS: Sometimes you can also find these numbers in the phonebook, they are not secret numbers, so I don't see why it is that stupid. The worst thing that can happen is that a lot of people will sent you a message or call you.

I would be very surprised when a restore would have enabled the 4G connectivity...

The only way for the issue to be fixed is that we all create tickets at Apple Support, and have the Senior Advisor escalate the ticket to Apple themselves.

That is the only way as I see it. I don't think Apple will investigate the issue because of one thread on their forums - We don't even know if the read these forums regularly.

Tickets, please, everyone with an iPhone stuck on 3G, call Apple support, and have the ticket escalated.

The 1st line helpdesk engineers will tell you anything (restore, contract no 4G, ...) because they don't have a clue....

That's right XofM. They do not block 4G on any carrier. The carrier you are trying to use is NOT SUPPORTED. Their network is not fully compatible with the iPhone.

@Pieter J: Whether the phone is unlocked or not is not relevant. You just don't get it...

As for 2G/3G... Take a look around. You'll see that that is EXACTLY the problem people in the US have attempting to use T-Mobile, which is NOT SUPPORTED and has an INCOMPATIBLE 3G network.

@KiltedTim

Thanks for clearing your point of view out.

@Auka, can you tell us if the Proximus 4G network is (in)compatible with the iPhone5 like KiltedTim tells us? I know the frequency Proximus is using (1800MHz) is correct but maybe there is another issue ?

Dude, you live in the USA and there is a huge difference between the USA situation and the Belgium situation. In Belgium phones are not tied to a carrier. What is going on here is that Apple has to supply a carrierupdate to Belgacom (the only carrier supplying 4G at this moment) This has nothing to do with unsupported or supported networks. Belgacom uses the LTE specs that are supported by the iPhone. If Apple would support one network and not the other network this would be illegal in Belgium. The only problem here is that Apple is too slow with supllying the carrier update to Belgacom. What the exact issue is we don't know but this has nothing to with not being on a supported network.

The blame here is on Apple which should be supplying the carrier update to Belgacom.

I have EDGE and 3G, without that Belgacom has partnership.

So why not 4G.

Simlock free, to chose who i which, so why pay more if they black it.

supported or not supported it is not many work to fix this. Maybe in one day the can do it... sow..

and belgacom has said they have sended it and is looking for it, so they want is...

Could you at least show a little respect for our problem? We all work togheter to get a solution. And as explained, it doesn't happen like this in Belgium.

In the meanwile I already contacted some international Apple-newssites and they said they were also going to investigate the problem, and if neccesairy they will post an article adressing the matter.

There must be a fundamental problem in the translation of the words "supported" and "unsupported" between your language and mine.

Belgacom is not a supported carrier. That means that you are welcome to use your iPhone with them, but it may not be fully compatible and Apple makes no statement that it is or will be compatible with them. Some features may not function fully or at all. You must take it up with the carrier.

This forum is not the proper place for you to hash this out. It's not a matter of having 'respect for your problem' or not. It's a matter of the fact that what you are trying to do is not supported by Apple. If Belgacom says it should work, then take it up with them.

A carrierupdate by Apple will make the network compatible with the iPhone. It's just a simple as that. This support forum is the perfect place to hash this out.Belgacom says it should work and to hash it out with Apple. It's as simple as supplying that carrierupdate.

We bought an LTE iPhone and we know that iPhone should work with the Belgacom LTE network in Belgium so now we demand Apple to support the only operational LTE network in Belgium. We demand to put in that supported list.

We are asking on the support forum to support the only LTE network in Belgium.

You are not hashing it ou wiht Apple. This is a USER forum.

If Belgacom says it should work, then go whine to them. I don't care if they are the only LTE network on the planet, they are not a supported carrier. They are not authorized by Apple to carry or service the iPhone. Apple has made no claims that any iPhone would work on Belgacom in any way.

Proximus mast be wait till Mobistar and Telenet launch the 4G! That are supported partners.

When the 4G is active on Mobistar and Telenet Side Apple Will release a update. Proximus is a not supported partner, why you think why Apple has stil no answer the question?? So wait and wait till Mobistar and Telenet has launch the 4G.

That is the ture i think. Proximus don't order iphones by Apple but sales android!

With all due respect but I think you are wrong. It's actually very simple

1) We buy an unlocked phone, so it has to work with any network

2) LTE becomes available, but we aren't able to connect to it so we suspect Proximus.

3) We contact Proximus and they all say they did everything they could, and Auka confirmes it here.

4) The problem is caused by Apple. They should solve it, because it is the law.

And we're now waiting for the solution. We know by now that Proximus isn't a supported carrier, you've said it a thousand times by now. But we have bought unlocked phones, they have to work. And like we said a thousand times: it's the law. If Apple doesn't respect that law? Fine, except that they will get a ban to sell their phones in Belgium (and posaably even the European Union). And i don't really see a reason why Apple just wouldn't release a carrier update. Maybe they don't have to serve Proximus, but they have to serve their customers (we). I believe it's just a matter of time.