If you mean T-mobile USA, they’ve been on VoLTE for a couple of years now. Their 3G network has been phased out, leaving only 2G, 4G, and 5G.
T-mobile is also the least restrictive of the three major U.S. carriers when it comes to bring-your-own-phone, as long as the device has been certified by the OEM for VoLTE on the T-mobile USA network.
That goes for any MVNO that operates on the T-mobile network, as well.
I’m extremely interested in the Fairphone 4! I am on a family plan with Verizon though, does anyone know if the fairphone 4 is compatible with Verizon yet?
Congratulations Murena, for being the first to bring Fairphone to the USA! I had previously ordered a refurb Pixel from Murena but I just put in a cancel request and will order the Fairphone instead since I was lusting after it since it was introduced in Europe.
Most unlocked bring-your-own phones on the market are generally for both T-Mobile and AT&T. I have done BYO taking eBay phones into AT&T stores for many years now. Is there any reason FP4 specifically says only T-Mobile?
The announcement says they recommend it, I guess because T-Mobile due to their origin are the provider most closely resembling mobile network providers in Europe compatibility-wise, for which the phone was originally designed.
It could be that the OEM (Fairphone) has not had the phone certified with AT&T for AT&T’s “brand” of VoLTE/HD Calling, or hasn’t done so yet.
Since all the U.S. carriers retired 3G in favor of 4G/VoLTE calling (and since AT&T no longer has a 2G network, either), VoLTE-capable (and -certified per carrier) devices are now required for activation and continued use, or so I’ve read. AT&T maintains an “authorized devices list” (viewable on their website) that contains relatively few certified devices… and the Fairphone4 is not currently on it.
{Edit: I’m far from being an expert on this, though, so maybe a developer can confirm or comment.}
I agree that in the past, as long as bands on the device matched up fairly well with the bands that AT&T (or T-mobile, for that matter) used, then it was easy to BYOP. I think those days are gone.
T-mobile USA has always been very accepting of most devices made around the world, and it might be related to what @AnotherElk suggested above.
MVNOs also have to adhere to the conditions set by the underlying major carrier whose infrastructure they operate on.
No. Verizon is a very controlling company and will likely never allow a deGoogled phone (or Linux phone, like Librem 5 or PinePhone) on their phone network. They declined the offer by Apple to be the first carrier to support the original iPhone because Apple would not agree to pre-install Verizon apps (malware) on the iPhone. The only reason Verizon later supported the iPhone is because it was a massive success when it launched with AT&T.
Another thing to note is that the Fairphone 4 lacks support for half of the main cellular bands used by Verizon 4G LTE (B13 and B66). So it would not have a good connection to the Verizon network anyway.
It is true that the device needs to be on the AT&T authorized devices list to be able to activate a new SIM on their network, but it might be possible to use a SIM that has already been activated with an approved device. It might also be necessary to contact AT&T to have them manually approve your Fairphone 4.
As mentioned above, T-Mobile is more welcoming to new devices using their network compared to AT&T and Verizon.
Also, the Fairphone 4 supports all of the main cellular bands used by T-Mobile 4G LTE in the USA (B2, B4, B12, and B71) and supports T-Mobile Mid-band and Low-band 5G (n41 and n71). In contrast, the Fairphone 4 lacks support for one of the main cellular bands used by AT&T 4G LTE (B17) and lacks support for half of the main cellular bands used by Verizon 4G LTE (B13 and B66). Though it does support Mid-band and Low-band 5G for AT&T and Verizon (n77 and n5), T-Mobile is widely seen as the industry leader in 5G roll-out in the United States.
mmWave spectrum 5G bands: n260 band (based on 37GHz to 40GHz frequencies) — used by Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile n261 (27.5GHz to 28.35GHz) — used by Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile
Mid-band 5G spectrum: n77 (3700MHz) — mid-band used by AT&T and Verizon n41 (2500MHz) — used by new T-Mobile (formerly used by Sprint)
Low-band 5G spectrum: n71 (600MHz) — used extensively by T-Mobile n5 (850MHz) — used by AT&T and Verizon n2 (1900MHz) — used by Verizon
I’ll end this comment by saying that I am very happy this phone is finally available for sale in the USA market! To my knowledge, this is the first and only deGoogled phone that can be purchased in the USA directly from an OEM or OEM partner. This is huge! Americans without the skills, patience, or desire to deGoogle a phone themselves (most Americans) can now buy an Android phone that is free from Google malware!
Thank you to the e Foundation for making this happen!
I’ve read comments in some forums that AT&T has sometimes blocked calls for customers who have done that, and says via an automated message that they need to switch to an approved device. Maybe it will work, though.
