Timeline for Telco approval of Android updates

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Timeline for Telco approval of Android updates

jamesrt

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#270175 27-Apr-2020 10:36

Hi all,

My understanding is that when a handset vendor produces a new update for a handset, the local telco has a test/approval stage before the update then gets released and made available on the vendor's OTA servers.

Being a Geek, I'm keen to play with / experience Android 10; my current handset vendor apparently did release the Android 10 update for my handset at the end of March 2020, which has been rolling out to various countries; and also a few days ago release a new minor upgrade, which includes the April 2020 security patches. As my current software version has security patches from Jan 2020, it would be nice to get up to date on that front too...

I'm guessing that the NZ-purchased handset rollout will need a Telco approval step; and the "official" Telco of this handset is Spark - I'm currently using Skinny as a service provider, which I'm fairly sure would be close enough!

Are Spark (and by extension Skinny etc) still doing this sort of testing / approval during the current "new world" situation, does anyone know? On a similar vein, can anyone comment on potential timeframes for approval ?

[And yes, potentially this sort of testing & therefore approval may require staff to be onsite in test suites, etc; and potentially isn't / can't be done under the current 'lockdown'; but I don't know if that's the case or not - hence the query around timeframes]

Ta!

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#2471852 27-Apr-2020 10:43

@NikT is best to answer this but the Telco tests handset software for about 1 week

NikT

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#2471864 27-Apr-2020 11:11

Many different variables here. It will depend on:

The handset vendor/brand
The exact model
The software build running on that model
For some brands and models, the SIM inserted
Where the handset was purchased from

There are models that have per-telco software (historically Samsung), there are models that gate it by the currently-inserted SIM (occasionally Huawei), there are brands that have a clearly-defined testing window and set release dates (Apple), and there are brands that do not go through operators in NZ at all (Motorola, LG, Xiaomi, Vivo, OnePlus and other open market brands, plus parallel imports like Pixels).

Yes, testing and approval is ongoing under lockdown.

As noted, operator testing is rarely the bottleneck for updates in this market. Available info on this is often confused with info about the US market, which is not relevant to NZ.

You'll need to be more specific about the handset you have for more insight.

Product Manager @ PB Tech

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#2471866 27-Apr-2020 11:27

I have seen updates approved by the Telco (VodafoneNZ) and then it's taken up to 8 weeks for the update to be pushed out by the handset manufacturer

jamesrt

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#2472017 27-Apr-2020 12:17

NikT: Many different variables here. It will depend on....

Thanks; a helpful summary.

NikT: You'll need to be more specific about the handset you have for more insight.

And yes, I knew my post was slightly obscure around my handset details; it's a Nokia 7.2, purchased over the counter from Harvey Norman. It's a bit prone go going quite laggy for periods; so it will be interesting to see if that gets better with the update...

jamesrt

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#2472029 27-Apr-2020 12:23

Linux: I have seen updates approved by the Telco (VodafoneNZ) and then it's taken up to 8 weeks for the update to be pushed out by the handset manufacturer

It's interesting that when you read a lot of the anecdotal comments around the internet, it does sound like some of the teams involved in doing this "behind the scenes" work are quite small, with quite long backlogs. WearOS, in particular, sounds like its being run in someone's spare time at Google, which is kinda weird, in my opinion.

freitasm

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#2472034 27-Apr-2020 12:35

Also important to remember many manufacturers will roll-out updates over a period of weeks, sometimes months, so not everyone get the (approved) update at the same time.

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#2472038 27-Apr-2020 12:51

Yes, our devices folk are doing the best they can in current world.

There may be some things they are limited from being able to do at home though, so i'd expect they might not be as snappy as normal.

I've seen a fair few nasty things picked up in our device testing and pushed back to the vendors to fix. It's always possible something hasnt been caught (or didnt impact) a competitor network.

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jamesrt

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#2472045 27-Apr-2020 12:59

hio77: Yes, our devices folk are doing the best they can in current world.

Thanks, I'm sure they are.

I just want to make it perfectly clear that I'm NOT complaining about delays; merely trying to get a handle on expectations...

NikT

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#2472060 27-Apr-2020 13:31

jamesrt:

And yes, I knew my post was slightly obscure around my handset details; it's a Nokia 7.2, purchased over the counter from Harvey Norman. It's a bit prone go going quite laggy for periods; so it will be interesting to see if that gets better with the update...

As Nokia is officially distributed solely by Spark in NZ, all official Nokia stock comes via Spark distribution channels, including Harveys etc. So Spark will be putting the update through the usual tests (or the new-normal version thereof) before it's deployed.

Nokia/HMD have been very vocal about update availability in this market, it's of course a key point of difference for them. I would keep an eye on their official social channels as they're likely to talk about it when it's available for a popular and recently-launched handset like the 7.2.

In terms of general impacts and delays, it's fair to assume a few weeks at minimum have been added to expected turnarounds. For this handset in particular, it will depend on whether any showstopping bug has been found with the platform update.

The local testing and certification teams are doing a hell of a job under the circumstances IMO.

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#2472063 27-Apr-2020 13:36

hio77:

I've seen a fair few nasty things picked up in our device testing and pushed back to the vendors to fix. It's always possible something hasnt been caught (or didnt impact) a competitor network.

This is true - I have once collected a Nokia device for review and used with my Vodafone SIM. It was intermittently missing calls - the caller would hear something like "The phone is disconnected" or similar and I would try to call and get a "Call cannot be completed" prompt.

My (correct) theory was that the Vodafone network had a problem handling the drop from 4G to 3G to establish the incoming/outgoing calls wit that specific device/firmware combination. I reported to Nokia and they confirmed this was the problem, and fixed on an update released soon after.

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