Microsoft Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL to be blocked by Verizon

AT&T is the only carrier in the U.S. that will market the Microsoft Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950 XL flagships. And there’s no confirmation from other carriers if they’ll support the new Lumia flagships.

Fresh information, however, reveals that Verizon Wireless will block the new Lumia flagships from operating on its network.

The Microsoft Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950 XL smartphones are capable of supporting CDMA networks, allowing them to operate on Verizon’s LTE network. Devices that support CDMA networks are required to have their Mobile Equipment Identifier (MEIDs) registered by the carrier, however. Verizon hasn’t added the MEIDs of the Lumia 950 and 950 XL smartphones since these handsets won’t be part of its network, Windows Central reported.

A customer that buys a phone supported by a CDMA network that discovers his phone’s MEID wasn’t activated by Verizon can contact the carrier so he can manually add the MEID and activate it. If the handset isn’t listed on the carrier’s database or if the MEID is blocked, the device won’t be supported by that network.

MEID only pertains to CDMA networks, which means GSM service providers like AT&T and T-Mobile can directly support the Lumia 950 and 950 XL handsets. T-Mobile hasn’t said it’s supporting the new Lumia smartphones.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that even though his company is ready to support the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, the Redmond giant hasn’t approached it, Ubergizmo reported.

Customers of the Lumia 950 and 950 XL unaware of the technicalities of the situation between Microsoft and Verizon may blame Microsoft for not making its handsets available on multiple U.S. carriers when it was Verizon’s decision to block the new Lumia flagships. In the past, Verizon delayed approval of Microsoft handsets like the Lumia 928, the Lumia Icon and the Lumia 735.

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