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

The senior advisor just called me back.

This is what he told me.

He investigated it and told me that the problem is at the side of Apple.

Proximus has delivered a carrier update to Apple. Apple needs to check this carrier-update before introducing it.

BUT: He couldn't give me a date when the update would be released yet.

He said that it would probably be introduced in the 6.0.2 iOS version or 6.1 version.

He also told me that the speed at which Apple introduces this update depends on the number of calls they get for this problem.

This problem has gotten an Issue-number. If a lot of people call for this problem it will get more attention from Apple and it will get a higher priority to get solved.

Thank you for your feedback, it is exactly what I was saying...

I cannot stress enough that _everyone_ needs to call Apple Support and tell them about this issue. Have your ticket escalated by the senior advisor, so it can be added to the same issue...

I just got a call back and the engineer first said this is the first time he heard of this problem. I asked to get escelated to a Senior Advisor and then he put me on hold saying he'd contact the SA himself.

Reply then was they don't know when an update will be released and even so, if the new carrier update will be included.

Let's hope 6.0.2 will be released soon.

I also just called Apple Support and I asked to connect me to the supervisor, and they did it immediately. I explained him the problem and he said that his colleagues alreay recieved reports about this problem, but he did immediately make a ticket for Apple.

@ZorbaR

Are you french speaking or dutch speaking ?

My callcenter was in the Netherlands I think. If you are French speaking you are maybe connected to a call center in France which may explain why they never heard of the problem before ?

Anyway, like GeertCU told, please everyone call the Apple Support to report this problem.

Dutch speaking, I called twice. The second time the egineer just got an email saying 'LTE is not available in Belgium/The Netherlands, so tell the customers that'. Then he told me to check with my provider and blablabla.

I asked to get escalated but also he called the SA himself ...

Don't know what I'm doing wrong but they all refuse to connect me to a SA, and just wait for an update.

I first explained to problem to a person at the helpdesk. When he said he doesn't know how to solve the problem, I just asked if he could pass the "verantwoordelijke" through, and he did. Maybe try one more time, you will probably be passed through this time.

Hi,

Followed the procedure and spoke to a Senior Advisor. He confirmed that carrier update 13.1 has been approved and apparantly some users already have that update and can use the 4G LTE. He suggested to connect to iTunes daily untill the carrier update comes through, this might take a week or more.

If all of us call apple support with the same questions they might pay more attention in order to have the carrier update out for everyone asap.

Listen carefully KiltedTim, because you seem to be a little brainwashed by companies like Apple:

LTE is a network standard, just like GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA, etc. The purpose of such a standard, is that every device that is build according to that standard, is able to connect to every carrier supporting that specific standard. The European model of the iPhone 5 supports the LTE 1800 MHz standard that Belgacom/Proximus uses.

Now if a company (e.g. Apple) sells an unlocked phone that supports a certain standard (e.g. LTE 1800 MHz), but it doesn't work with a certain carrier (e.g. Proximus, which does support that same standard), onlybecause Apple enables/disables LTE support on a per-carrier basis using so-called "carrier bundles" (.ipcc files), and refuses to release a carrier update, just because Proximus doesn't have a contract with Apple, that would be illegal according to Belgian and EU laws.

I know that in your country, the USA, companies have all the power, but in the European Union there are laws to protect consumers and fair competition, so if you buy a product with certain specifications, it should work according to those specifications. Contracts with carriers don't have anything to do with that, nor do lists of so-called "supported carriers". I hope this cleared things up for you.

nick-1989 wrote:

We don't give a **** about that list.

Too bad. That's the list of carriers that are authorized to carry and service the iPhone and which are officially supported by Apple. If you don't like it, go buy something else.

It's not an issue of standards. It's an issue of what is supported. If it doesn't work with your carrien, then go complain to your carrier. You're just making yourself look like a fool. Why you can't understand this is beyond me.

I have already given up to reply to KiltedTim LOL

The only reason he seems to be on this subject is to be rude, and call everyone a fool or stupid or whatever.

I advise everyone here not to react to his messages anymore and eventually I hope he will loose interest in posting his insults here.

That way we can focus on the real problem again.

Proximus complies to the official LTE 1800 MHz standard, so there's no reason to complain to them. It is Apple who programmed the iPhone in such a way that it only connects to LTE networks that have been specifically enabled by them. Since we paid for a phone that support the LTE 1800 MHz standard, we are now asking Apple to enable access to Proximus LTE. If Apple refuses to do this, the European Union can order Apple to pay a huge fine, just like they did with Microsoft.

It's not a matter of supported carriers, it's a matter of supported technologies/standards and complying with fair competition laws. I don't know what's so difficult to understand about that. The only one who makes himself look like a fool, are you. I'm sure a lot of people here will agree on that. Now please leave this topic and go troll on a topic of your own country, thanks.

He's just the ultimate Apple fanboy. Whatever you tell him, Apple is always right 😉

On topic again:
I think the carrier update will come. It's a win-win situation for both Apple & Proximus. Apple will sell more iPhones because it works on LTE, and Proximus will sell more subscriptions. Even Mobistar will have a part of the profit as M* is the official iPhone distributor in Belgium. And they released carrier bundles for Proximus in the past, I don't see why it should be a problem now.

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I would argue that you don't understand how things work in the real world, at least outside of the USA.

In Europe it is very common to buy an unlocked phone, pop in whichever SIM card you want and use all of the your phone's functions. This behaviour with LTE is a situation which I have certainly not heard of before, and it is clearly something that has not been well advertised in Belgium, judging by the comments posted on this thread.

As has already been said, if you buy an unlocked phone, you don't expect to have to get the manufacturer's "permission" to use certain functionality, which is effectively what the situation is here. YOU are entitled to believe whatever you want, but that does not change the fact this situation is an unusual one, and is almost certainly a first, and an undesirable one at that.