Nokia's future in the USA for those on AT&T network

This is the actual message they send out;

" AT&T Free Msg: ALERT! It's time to replace your 3G dependent phone! We want to give you a FREE device, because your current phone won't work when 3G network goes away. If you don't replace your phone, by July 1, 2021, any calls you make will be redirected to customer service so we can help you upgrade to a newer phone. Some features like voicemail won't work when calls are redirected. To avoid service disruption please call (877) 475-#### to get your new FREE phone today or stop by one of our stores for other great offers."

The excuse being being offered in their forums is the AT&T wants to limit their customer's phones to those that they have "certified" to work with their "proprietary" version of VoLTE, which they call HD Voice. Rather than drop to normal VoLTE, they will now be dropping the call to 3g, which they are retiring from service. They are taking a similar approach with their "proprietary" WiFi calling. You can find their whitelist by searching for "Service-Capabilities-Unlocked-Devices-ATT-Network" . It's a PDF, so I don't know if I can link it.

@Roobaroo

Thank you for that link. The good news is that apparently that list is expanding, as when I looked there was only one Nokia phone on it. Hopefully Nokia will become proactive work to get their capable phones whitelisted. I don't think anybody is happy with the way AT&T is doing this.

FYI, the current published AT&T whitelist is marked "Last updated June 28, 2021". No additional Nokia's are on it. I do see the new OnePlus Nord N200 (DE2117) is already one it. Come on Nokia, put your pants on before your shoes. Don't offer a brand new phone for sale marketed compatible with AT&T (The G20 ) before getting it on the AT&T allowed list.

Your (US) webpage today July 2, 2021 shows;

This device is sold as unlocked and will work with these carriers:

AT&T

Boost

Cricket

Simple Mobile

T-Mobile

Tracfone

AT&T will either deactivate the SIM or reroute calls to their customer service number. This is of course AT&T's fault, but that's what will happen, and it will result it a lot of returned phones. This will not be good for Nokia.

As I understand current AT&T policy, a phone only gets added to the whitelist if AT&T sells their version of it, or if the manufacturer submits it to AT&T for their certification. AT&T no doubt charges a fee for that process. How much that is, I don't know. HMD must know whether they have summited the phone to AT&T for approval or not, or if they plan to in the near future. This is where it would be helpful if HMD would comment officially on what their policy is going to be going forward.

Both of the two Nokia 6.1s in my family moved from AT&T to other US carriers that don't do whitelisting. Nokia just needs to indicate one way or another how they will deal with AT&T "whitelisting", because some places AT&T is the only choice for coverage. I personally hate the whitelisting practice and think it should be illegal. We have international industry standards and certifications that should be used to address compatibility issues, in my opinion.

Edit to add: VoLTE works fine on the 6.1 using T-Mobile and GCI Alaska as carriers.

Come on Nokia, there are three possible responses;

1) No, we won't pay AT&T to certify our phones.

2) Yes, we commit to paying AT&T to certify our phones so they may be used on the AT&T network in the near future.

3) Eh..., we haven't decided.

Mind you, I'm absolutely not okay with what AT&T is doing. But we have very little influence in that. For may of us, this has meant either changing phones, or changing networks.

Please Nokia, clarify your position on this. You have future sales hanging on your response. Continuing to ignore this problem will mean not being able to consider Nokia for future purchases for many folks.