4 ms·

Deutsche Telekom is known as T-Mobile here in the US. So, the #3 and #4 networks will support it. I wonder if AT&T or Verizon will chime in soon?

by timdorr 14y ago

jbodeen 14y ago
5 out of the top 10 mobile providers in the world are on that list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operators http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operator...
- OGinparadise 14y ago
  Any idea why? Too new or maybe because Mozilla is not corporate backed? I thought telcos hated the fact that just Android and iPhone were it
yareally 14y ago
looking at how the galaxy nexus was treated on Verizon, I doubt they have much interest. Verizon would probably be for measures to prevent the bootloader from being unlocked and want control of updates. Mozilla probably doesn't want to agree to those terms either, so I would be surprised if Verizon ever had one. Just my experience with being a long time Verizon user and Android OS hobbyist modder.
- zobzu 14y ago
  Technically they could just take FirefoxOS and lock it down if they wanted - Mozilla's approval is not needed
  - mintplant 14y ago
    Perhaps something could be added into the license agreement to prevent such usage?
  - antrix 14y ago
    But they wouldn't be able to call it FirefoxOS. The source may be open but the brand & trademark certainly aren't.
    - yareally 14y ago
      Yeah, I think you're correct. They'd have to remove all Firefox branding/advertising if they went against Mozilla's wishes.
  - yareally 14y ago
    True, sans all the Firefox branding and such they could do that without Mozilla's consent. With how Verizon went out of their way to ensure their Galaxy S3 was the only one that prevented users for easily unlocking the bootloader and enabling system writing, I don't foresee a positive future with any open OS on Verizon. I'm probably switching to T-Mobile when my contract is up next year. I enjoy the unlimited LTE dataspeed on Verizon I still have, but I'm not interested in keeping it while paying full price for a phone I don't really want.
rogerbinns 14y ago
DT (non-US) and T-Mobile in the US don't operate as a single unit, so the former committing to Firefox doesn't mean anything in the US. As an example iPhone is available on DT, but not T-Mobile.
- mikeash 14y ago
  The iPhone's lack of availability on T-Mobile is actually a technical limitation, because T-Mobile uses a very unusual frequency band for 3G that most phones, including the iPhone, don't support. They are changing over to something more common, and will likely get the iPhone soon because of it. Not to argue with anything you're saying, just pointing out that that particular decision was more technical than anything.
  - rogerbinns 14y ago
    Definitely a past tense thing, and there isn't anything stopping the sales of iPhones now. Heck they claim there are already ~2 million iPhones on the network already! The "unusual" frequency is also known as AWS bands, and are also used by other carriers and in other countries (only 4 at the moment so not pervasive), although there are now LTE deployments happening in the AWS bands. The frequency retasking that allows a regular GSM iPhone to work is in full swing - http://www.tmonews.com/2013/01/t-mobiles-network-modernization-what-is-it-where-can-i-get-coverage/ http://www.tmonews.com/2013/01/t-mobiles-network-modernizati... - there is even a Twitter account tracking sightings https://twitter.com/UMTS1900 https://twitter.com/UMTS1900 and a map http://airportal.de http://airportal.de When tmobile does start selling the iPhone (rumoured to be a few months out) it will be interesting to see if they piggyback off the parent company or deal with Apple directly. In order to deal with Apple you have comply with minimum order quantities (remember the Sprint $20bn numbers) http://www.asymco.com/2013/01/17/the-iphone-moq/ http://www.asymco.com/2013/01/17/the-iphone-moq/
    - mikeash 14y ago
      Well, people were using iPhones on T-Mobile from day 1. It always worked, but 3G didn't. So, while "working", data speeds were excruciatingly slow. (I actually went the opposite direction for a little while. I had a Nexus One made for T-Mobile which I used on my AT&T account. It had the same problem in reverse, since it only had T-Mobile's 3G frequencies. The phone itself was decent, but the data speeds were a killer.) Anyway, good to hear that it's happening, and thanks for the links. More competition is good, and I'm sure that a T-Mobile iPhone will help.
cmelbye 14y ago
Why would they?

Deutsche Telekom is known as T-Mobile here in the US. So, the #3 and #4 networks will support it. I wonder if AT&T or Verizon will chime in soon?

by timdorr 14y ago

Deutsche Telekom is known as T-Mobile here in the US. So, the #3 and #4 networks will support it. I wonder if AT&T or Verizon will chime in soon?

jbodeen 14y ago

5 out of the top 10 mobile providers in the world are on that list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operators http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operator...

OGinparadise 14y ago
Any idea why? Too new or maybe because Mozilla is not corporate backed? I thought telcos hated the fact that just Android and iPhone were it

yareally 14y ago

looking at how the galaxy nexus was treated on Verizon, I doubt they have much interest. Verizon would probably be for measures to prevent the bootloader from being unlocked and want control of updates. Mozilla probably doesn't want to agree to those terms either, so I would be surprised if Verizon ever had one. Just my experience with being a long time Verizon user and Android OS hobbyist modder.

zobzu 14y ago
Technically they could just take FirefoxOS and lock it down if they wanted - Mozilla's approval is not needed
- mintplant 14y ago
  Perhaps something could be added into the license agreement to prevent such usage?
- antrix 14y ago
  But they wouldn't be able to call it FirefoxOS. The source may be open but the brand & trademark certainly aren't.
  - yareally 14y ago
    Yeah, I think you're correct. They'd have to remove all Firefox branding/advertising if they went against Mozilla's wishes.
- yareally 14y ago
  True, sans all the Firefox branding and such they could do that without Mozilla's consent. With how Verizon went out of their way to ensure their Galaxy S3 was the only one that prevented users for easily unlocking the bootloader and enabling system writing, I don't foresee a positive future with any open OS on Verizon. I'm probably switching to T-Mobile when my contract is up next year. I enjoy the unlimited LTE dataspeed on Verizon I still have, but I'm not interested in keeping it while paying full price for a phone I don't really want.

rogerbinns 14y ago

DT (non-US) and T-Mobile in the US don't operate as a single unit, so the former committing to Firefox doesn't mean anything in the US. As an example iPhone is available on DT, but not T-Mobile.

mikeash 14y ago
The iPhone's lack of availability on T-Mobile is actually a technical limitation, because T-Mobile uses a very unusual frequency band for 3G that most phones, including the iPhone, don't support. They are changing over to something more common, and will likely get the iPhone soon because of it. Not to argue with anything you're saying, just pointing out that that particular decision was more technical than anything.
- rogerbinns 14y ago
  Definitely a past tense thing, and there isn't anything stopping the sales of iPhones now. Heck they claim there are already ~2 million iPhones on the network already! The "unusual" frequency is also known as AWS bands, and are also used by other carriers and in other countries (only 4 at the moment so not pervasive), although there are now LTE deployments happening in the AWS bands. The frequency retasking that allows a regular GSM iPhone to work is in full swing - http://www.tmonews.com/2013/01/t-mobiles-network-modernization-what-is-it-where-can-i-get-coverage/ http://www.tmonews.com/2013/01/t-mobiles-network-modernizati... - there is even a Twitter account tracking sightings https://twitter.com/UMTS1900 https://twitter.com/UMTS1900 and a map http://airportal.de http://airportal.de When tmobile does start selling the iPhone (rumoured to be a few months out) it will be interesting to see if they piggyback off the parent company or deal with Apple directly. In order to deal with Apple you have comply with minimum order quantities (remember the Sprint $20bn numbers) http://www.asymco.com/2013/01/17/the-iphone-moq/ http://www.asymco.com/2013/01/17/the-iphone-moq/
  - mikeash 14y ago
    Well, people were using iPhones on T-Mobile from day 1. It always worked, but 3G didn't. So, while "working", data speeds were excruciatingly slow. (I actually went the opposite direction for a little while. I had a Nexus One made for T-Mobile which I used on my AT&T account. It had the same problem in reverse, since it only had T-Mobile's 3G frequencies. The phone itself was decent, but the data speeds were a killer.) Anyway, good to hear that it's happening, and thanks for the links. More competition is good, and I'm sure that a T-Mobile iPhone will help.

cmelbye 14y ago

Why would they?