Most of the U.S. Carriers Confirm They Will Support the Essential Phone

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Published 31 May 2017

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Essential Phone

Earlier today, Andy Rubin and his new company, Essential, officially took the wraps off their first flagship smartphone, aptly known as the Essential Phone.

Essential provided plenty of details regarding the handset, including the type of radios it would have under its titanium and ceramic chassis. At the time we knew that, technically, the Essential Phone does indeed support the networks of every major wireless carrier in the United States, but the carriers themselves were quiet on that front.

That has changed, though, with most of the largest wireless carriers in the United States –Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile– all confirming that they will indeed support the Essential Phone when it launches. As noted by The Verge, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint have all responded, but not everyone appears to be pleased with the upcoming launch.

Verizon, specifically, had this to say:

“While the phone might work on Verizon, we can’t promise the same experience and quality of service as devices that have been tested and approved for use on our network.”

Meanwhile, T-Mobile is happy to see the Essential Phone landing on the market, and is equally just as happy to host it on its network through its own BYOD program. However, some features on the carrier side may not work:

“We’re excited for Andy Rubin and his team (the device looks amazing), and welcome customers purchasing Essential to bring it to the fastest and most advanced 4G LTE network in the country through our BYOD program. We’ll have more to share closer to general availability in terms of what advanced network features might be available in Essential.”

And Sprint had this to say:

“Essential’s debut smartphone will operate on our network. More specific information will be provided at a later date.”

AT&T hadn’t responded at the time of this publication. However, there’s no real reason to expect at this point that the Essential Phone won’t support the Big Blue network. It doesn’t look like any of the major wireless carriers have plans to fully support the device (as in, selling it directly), but that probably has more to do with the fact that Essential itself isn’t built to mass produce the handset on that kind of scale.

So, do you plan on picking up the Essential Phone when it launches (which is in June, by the way).

[via The Verge]