Apple blocking iOS users from using LTE network
So I wanted to talk to you about something peculiar that happened here in Belgium. You probably don't know Belgium. Belgium is a small country in W-Europe and is often called "the capital of Europe" because all the EU meetings are held in Belgium's capital city: Brussels.
Yesterday Belgium's biggest mobile network operator, Belgacom, launched its LTE network. It's the first 4G network in Belgium.
The only 4G device you can buy here is the iPhone 5. The next 3 smartphones that will launch with LTE in Belgium are the Nokia Lumia 820, the Lumia 920 and the Samsung Galaxy S III LTE. These 3 devices will be for sale starting the end of November.
So every iPhone 5 owner was excited to get on the new LTE network. But their phone couldn't find any LTE network. So they asked Belgacom why they couldn't connect to the LTE network. Belgacom told the customers that Apple still needs to activate something because otherwise iOS devices would not connect to the new LTE network. Belgacom also told its customers that it notified Apple about the new 4G network weeks ago and Apple hasn't yet responded.
Since Belgacom confirmed this to national newspapers and television they don't seem to be lying. So what do you guys think about this? Here in Belgium every phone is sold unlocked and phones with contracts are not very popular. All the iPhone 5's are unlocked and work without any problem on every 3G network in the country.
I don't even think it's legal here for Apple to block a network on an unlocked phone.
Edit: I forgot to mention Belgacom's LTE network is on 1800 MHz so it's fully compatible with the iPhone 5 that's being sold here.
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