Nokia is gradually delivering the so-called Portico updates for international owners of the surprise-hit Lumia 920 some weeks after the same patch were made accessible to U.S.-based users of the Windows Phone 8 handset.

Citing details gleaned from the Nokia forum site, The Verge reported that the phased update process has started rolling out, reaching first specific users in Europe with other regions likely to follow soon.

The same report noted that Nokia is actually ahead of the scheduled Lumia 920 upgrade, leading to the possibility that the whole undertaking will see completion by middle of March 2013.

In a related news, the same Portico update is being quietly dispatched to Vodafone subscribers in Germany and Italy, kicking up the WP8 on Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 to build 8.0.10211.204, according to reports by WM Power User.

Sadly though, the process will skip out for now owners of unlocked 920s and 820s in the region. That means they would to wait a bit more before they enjoy the following WP8 enhancements, which were first brought to HTC Windows Phone 8X units in December 2012:

  • SMS create designs
  • Select all text for easy deletion
  • Reject call with SMS
  • New Wi-Fi settings (WLAN can be activated when the screen timeout)
  • Fixed the restart issues
  • Improvements in Internet Explorer
  • Improved Bluetooth connectivity
  • More stable boot sequence
  • Improved image quality
  • Improved battery management
  • Additional platform updates and improvements

In most cases, owners of Lumia handsets will be 'notified' when the Portico patch is all set up for download and installation. Simply authorise your handset to chew in the file for the Lumia step up but not before making sure that your battery fully charged up to process the jump without glitch.