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T-Mobile states new Nexus phones won't support band 12 LTE, at least at first

While the specs seem to show all relevant bands are supported, there's a little hidden caveat with T-Mobile. Unlocked device manufacturers now have to block access to band 12 LTE or get certified for VoLTE.
By
September 29, 2015
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We are wrapping up Google announcement day and simply couldn’t close the cycle without some distress. This time the bearer of bad news is T-Mobile, which states the new Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P may not be supporting 4G LTE bands as much as everyone believes.

While the specs seem to show all relevant bands are supported, there’s a little hidden caveat with T-Mobile. Unlocked device manufacturers now have to block access to band 12 LTE or get certified for VoLTE. This is something Google, LG and HUAWEI apparently haven’t done with the new Nexus phones. Well… at least that is what T-Mobile’s Twitter account is saying.

@bickman2k Great questions Adam! They are not going to support Band 12, but we will continue to work with Google to enable this… 1/3
— T-Mobile (@TMobile) September 29, 2015
@bickman2k …feature in the future. That’s a big “yes!” to WiFi calling. While not enabled by default, once you get that sucker… 2/3
— T-Mobile (@TMobile) September 29, 2015

@bickman2k …on our network, you’ll be able to enable it. Thanks again for reaching out! *MaxD 3/3
— T-Mobile (@TMobile) September 29, 2015


As it turns out, the involved companies can still work on getting certification. Some smaller phone makers usually skip this, but it’s imperative that Google takes care of this. The Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P will be very important devices in the USA.

But why does T-Mobile have to do this? As it turns out there are very valid reasons to block non-certified Band 12 users. There seem to be areas where T-Mobile only has support for band 12 LTE. This would mean that even basic calls will need to use VoLTE, which is fine for many users, but remember things can get touchy if those phones can’t make emergency calls, which would be the case here.

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But why not just switch to roaming in these band 12-only spots? There are complications for doing that. So much that T-Mobile would rather block Band 12 from these devices, sending them straight to roaming where other LTE frequencies are absent. It sure is bad news, but Google and company should have already taken care of this. We can assume they will at some point, it would be too big of a fail not to.

Who is thinking about using a Nexus phone on T-Mobile. Would this make a difference to you?

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