Not rude at all, you bought the phone and you expect it to work if it is North American optimized, I went through all of this with the Pure so I am empathetic to your situation
@jim_s This is really not a KOMPAKT hardware issue, but thank you for your honest and thoughtful message. We truly appreciate your support and understand your caution. It absolutely makes sense to feel a bit nervous, especially when dealing with something as complex and opaque as mobile carrier compatibility in the U.S.
Youāre right to expect more than just optimistic anecdotes, and we agree that reassurance from a company should go beyond what a third-party reviewer experienced. Thatās why we want to be transparent about both what weāve tested and the larger industry context.
Like I mentioned in my previous message, in October 2024, we conducted radio tests of the global version of Mudita Kompakt in the U.S., and it successfully connected with major networks like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, as well as MVNOs such as Lyca and Ultra. We also went through the PTCRB certification process and ensured that the North American version of Kompakt includes an extended band range to maximize compatibility.
That said, weāre also aware of how uniquely restrictive the U.S. telecom landscape can be. Carriers there often exert tight control over which devices are fully supported, which (letās be honest here) is a system that doesnāt favor smaller, independent players like us. We wish it were different, but we also want to be realistic about what we can and cannot promise. This is why weāre cautious when it comes to making guarantees about specific carriers.
Weāre committed to doing everything we can to support our users, and your feedback helps us do better. Please know that weāre here to assist if you run into any issues once you receive your devices, and weāll continue to be as transparent as possible along the way.
Most cell phone manufacturers are located outside of the US, yet still provide concrete information on who their applicable carriers are in that location.
I understand the size of the team, logistics, etc. do not make this a 1-to-1 analogy, however a small size doesnāt excuse not having critical information such as āthe phone we created specifically for this area of the globe is usable with the following providers.ā
I feel like a strong supporter of Mudita, and part of support is letting someone know what can be done better; this could definitely have been done better, basically.
Did you do something similiar for Canadian providers?
Not to compare Mudita to the rest of the space, but Minimal, LightPhone, and HiBreak are also in the same position where you can use their phones on Verizon but you may need to do some extra work to get it there.
The manufacturing place is not what the issue is. There are specific phones that are carrier locked & the American wireless marketplace is tightly controlled by carriers who have a habit of picking winners and losers, while setting prices and insisting that there shouldnāt be any oversight. Basically thereās a reason why the phones you typically see in Verizon or AT&T stores are the ones you see. The U.S. wireless market is heavily influenced by the carriers themselves. They want you to BUY the phone they offer at their price & NOT go outside of the ecosystem and choose a device on your own. Like I said, thatās why many devices are carrier-locked, and the big telecoms often decide which phones get full support on their networks. They tend to favor large manufacturers who can meet their custom requirements and invest millions in lengthy custom certification processes.
And thatās fine⦠what I was responding to was [quote=ārowancne, post:20, topic:8209ā]
Mudita isnāt located in the US and the issue is explicitly with US providers
[/quote]
Itās a complex topic, and one that I donāt envy.
At the end of the day itās wild to ask a question only to feel like you have offended other users and have to justify your stance/request/concern⦠in good news, at least itās another reminder to get offline lol.
Thanks much as always
I apologize if I came off as offended, I just have a very terse typing style. I was once asked by coworkers to include emoji in my emails to ensure my coworkers I wasnāt mad at them haha. I see the same discussion across every small phone company release (itās pretty common in the dumbphone subreddit as well) and was trying to get the information across
No worries, text is an awful format for nuance and thatās on me⦠weāre all just excited folks looking for a hopefully good experience, and thatās awesome!
lol not your fault my friend, this is the world we live in sadly communication is all text, but its not your responsibility of how others interpret your texts, thats my responsibility, if I am going to make assumption about your tone etc that is on me, I have never met you nor do I know you, we all have to be careful about making assumptions about messages via texts forums etc
@jim_s I donāt think you offended anyone (not me of all people). Iām used to the tough questions. I also answer in ways that I hope people will understand. Having grown up in the US & just move to Poland 12 years ago, I see both sides of story. I remember traveling to Poland from the US on vacation and having a hard time sticking a pre-paid sim card in my US Cellular flip phone. I couldnāt understand why. TURNS OUT- I donāt know if you remember this - US Cellular used CDMA networks in the US and did not use SIM cards (at that time). So there was NO SIM CARD slot. CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) phones were programmed directly with subscriber data. These phones were carrier-locked and device-specific, meaning switching devices typically required contacting the carrier.
This was so strange to my POLISH family.
So, I do understand that things on one side of the pond work differently than they do on the other side. Thatās why I try to give as much info as I can to help people see the difference.
They need to be exposed.
@The Look how popular the LightPhone is. I mean, the company has been around since 2014- so over 10 YEARS. The first LightPhone launched in April 2017 - so 8 years & I donāt think any US cellular network provider has offered to have them in their store.
Wow, great point. I didnāt realize just how much the telecom companies are in bed with each other. I didnāt even stop to think that it extended out to devices as well. Thatās crazyā¦
Itās almost like all of these people having trouble getting service is by designā¦
I would advise anyone in North America to wait until people have used the phone here before buying one. Mudita does not have or plan to have any carrier-specific certifications. In Canada, lack of this is what prevented the LP2 from working properly in Canada (issues far beyond connectivity, which is all that Mudita is using to say it will work). Light dedicated a ton of time and resources to getting these certifications for LP3, i dont think they did it just for fun.
Maybe Jose or someone with better understanding of how these certifications work can clarify or contradict what ive written⦠But as i understand it carriers restrict voLTE access to uncertified phones. My LP2 seemed to work, but couldnt make or receive calls or texts with certain providers. From my limited understanding, this is what i expect will happen with the Kompakt.
I naively preordered it before i looked into all of this and am too invested to cancel haha, so expecting to have to pay to ship it back to Poland to return.
We do have examples of non-certified phones getting on the Verizon network, it just is a less than straightforward process for some people. For example, this walkthrough of getting the HBP onto the network: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bigme/comments/1jmp8z3/bigme_hibreak_pro_verizon/ml2qe0r/
From my personal point of view, worst case scenario I switch over to T-Mobile, which does not restrict like Verizon and AT&T do.
āNorth America-optimizedā Kompakt in USA and Canada
For USA and Canada, below with underlining are those bands that match the 4G/LTE bands supported by the āNorth America-optimizedā Kompakt (2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 18, 19, 26, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 71).
USA:
- AT&T: 2, 4, 5, 12, 14, 17, 29, 30, 66
- T-Mobile USA: 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 25, 26, 41, 46, 48, 66, 71
- Verizon Wireless: 2, 4, 5, 13, 46, 48, 66
Canada:
- Bell: 2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 17, 29
- Chatr: 4, 7, 12
- Eastlink: 4, 13
- Fido: 4, 7, 17
- Freedom: 4, 7, 66
- Rogers: 4, 7, 17
- Sasktel: 4, 13, 41
- Shaw: 4, 13, 66
- Tbaytel: 7
- Telus: 2, 7, 12, 13, 17, 29, 45
- Videotron: 4, 17
āGlobal-optimizedā Kompakt in USA and Canada
For USA and Canada, below with underlining are those bands that match the 4G/LTE bands supported by the āGlobal-optimizedā Kompakt (1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 26, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41).
USA:
- AT&T: 2, 4, 5, 12, 14, 17, 29, 30, 66
- T-Mobile USA: 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 25, 26, 41, 46, 48, 66, 71
- Verizon Wireless: 2, 4, 5, 13, 46, 48, 66
Canada:
- Bell: 2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 17, 29
- Chatr: 4, 7, 12
- Eastlink: 4, 13
- Fido: 4, 7, 17
- Freedom: 4, 7, 66
- Rogers: 4, 7, 17
- Sasktel: 4, 13, 41
- Shaw: 4, 13, 66
- Tbaytel: 7
- Telus: 2, 7, 12, 13, 17, 29, 45
- Videotron: 4, 17
My Experience with a āGlobal-optimizedā Kompakt on T-Mobile USA
I live in the USA and bought the āGlobal-optimizedā Kompakt, which I have been using successfully for 15 days on Mint Mobile, which was an MVNO but became a sub-brand of T-Mobile USA (āTMUSā) about a year ago when TMUS bought Mint Mobile.
The sideloaded LTE Discovery app tells me every time that I check it that my āGlobal-optimizedā Kompakt is on 4G/LTE band 12, which implies that LTE band 12 is strong where I reside in the USA.
Hi Rowancne, I am the person you are linking to re the HBP on Reddit and so thought Iād share my experience re trying to get a non-approved device on the Verizon network and the shortcomings. In sum, it was not easy, I had to go to the Verizon store on 4 separate occasions, befriend a manager, and they did all kinds of off-the-record stuff and even then the HBP was not working properly. Yes, I was intermittently able to receive calls, place calls, receive texts (but not RCS or group), and send texts (same RCS comment) but never all at the same time or reliably. I also had issues with incoming calls reaching voicemail. Verizon customer service would not troubleshoot as the device was not whitelisted and so I always had to go back to āmy guyā to try to make things work. Ultimately, after 20h+ of time invested I decided that it was not worth continued investment and returned the device (which is a story for another thread - you would not believe the steps that Bigme put me through!). Iām still getting the Mudita Kompakt bc I really like the company, the communication, the intentions and plan to setup it up as a second complementary phone. Iāll try Verizon again but, if need be, Iāll activate it on T-Mobile. Iām definitely concerned about all the issues coming up but, as it will not (yet) be my primary phone, Iām less stressed about getting everything to work this time. Iām viewing it as a minimalist/experimental device. Hope this is a helpful data point. I think ultimately we will all have to wait until the N/A units make it to N/A and people try to activate them to see what the real story is (everything else is commentary ;-))
Yeah in Canada I found the LP2 works on Lucky mobile, and virgin mobile, at one point in my journey it worked on koodo and then it stopped, with Lucky mobile (owned by bell) the lp2 has always worked properly even though it was never properly certified in Canada, I know they had discussions with Telus that literally took over a year
I just sold my LP2, it did not work on Koodo or Virgin.