Hey everyone,
I live in Denmark and during my recent trip to US I've purchased the latest Apple Watch Ultra (A2622). I'm new to cellular Apple Watches, therefore had no idea that multiple watch variants exist until I tried to activate data plan on the watch after getting back.
When I go into "Mobile Data", the "Set Up Mobile Service" button is greyed out and the message below says: "This Apple Watch does not support TELIA mobile service in this region":
I have reached out to Apple Support about this, and spoke to multiple people, including their senior technical support agent. He assured me that despite originating from US, my watch does not have any enforced region/carrier lock. He confirmed that the watch is fully unlocked and can work with any carrier that accepts it in their network. He insisted that there is nothing Apple can do/unlock from their end and it's completely up to the carrier to accept the device.
We discussed LTE bands and he also confirmed that as long as some bands overlap, the watch will be getting reception, though it might not work in some areas where only missing bands are used.
Comparing LTE bands, I can see that Telia uses Bands B3, B7 and B20:
halberdbastion.com
Bands B3 and B7 are supported by model A2622 and only B20 is missing, so 2/3 overlap:
He stated that there is a default activation policy on the carrier side that prevents models from other regions activating. He suggested to escalate this case to tier 2 / senior technical support at the carrier for manual activation assistance.
I've tried discussing this with a carrier, but I keep getting a standard replies: "Our network / setup only supports EU models", "We do not support the US version and we cannot open up access on the network for it."
At the same time I can see that some people succeeded using US variants of Apple Watches with EU/international carriers, for example:
discussions.apple.com
or
This, combined with Apple reply, leads me to a conclusion that carriers do have possibility to whitelist devices from another region and US watch models can indeed work with EU carriers provided some bands overlap.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I can try or how to approach the carrier, as it seems being completely on them?
P.S. Returning my US watch is no longer an option, it's been more than 14 days since the purchase. Besides, Apple insisted that it has to be returned to a physical store in US since it's a physical store I got it from, and it's something I can't do from DK.
I live in Denmark and during my recent trip to US I've purchased the latest Apple Watch Ultra (A2622). I'm new to cellular Apple Watches, therefore had no idea that multiple watch variants exist until I tried to activate data plan on the watch after getting back.
When I go into "Mobile Data", the "Set Up Mobile Service" button is greyed out and the message below says: "This Apple Watch does not support TELIA mobile service in this region":
I have reached out to Apple Support about this, and spoke to multiple people, including their senior technical support agent. He assured me that despite originating from US, my watch does not have any enforced region/carrier lock. He confirmed that the watch is fully unlocked and can work with any carrier that accepts it in their network. He insisted that there is nothing Apple can do/unlock from their end and it's completely up to the carrier to accept the device.
We discussed LTE bands and he also confirmed that as long as some bands overlap, the watch will be getting reception, though it might not work in some areas where only missing bands are used.
Comparing LTE bands, I can see that Telia uses Bands B3, B7 and B20:
Telia Denmark | Powertec Information Portal
Telia Denmark is a prominent telecommunications company operating within Denmark. It was established in May 1995 following the liberalisation of the Danish telecommunications market. The company is a subsidiary of Telia Company, a Swedish multinational telecommunications company. Telia Company...
halberdbastion.com
Bands B3 and B7 are supported by model A2622 and only B20 is missing, so 2/3 overlap:
Apple Watch - Carriers
Apple Watch with cellular. Go with just your watch — make calls, get messages, stream music. See if Apple Watch works with networks in your country.
www.apple.com
He stated that there is a default activation policy on the carrier side that prevents models from other regions activating. He suggested to escalate this case to tier 2 / senior technical support at the carrier for manual activation assistance.
I've tried discussing this with a carrier, but I keep getting a standard replies: "Our network / setup only supports EU models", "We do not support the US version and we cannot open up access on the network for it."
At the same time I can see that some people succeeded using US variants of Apple Watches with EU/international carriers, for example:
USA Apple Watch (Cellular + GPS) in Europe - Apple Community
This, combined with Apple reply, leads me to a conclusion that carriers do have possibility to whitelist devices from another region and US watch models can indeed work with EU carriers provided some bands overlap.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I can try or how to approach the carrier, as it seems being completely on them?
P.S. Returning my US watch is no longer an option, it's been more than 14 days since the purchase. Besides, Apple insisted that it has to be returned to a physical store in US since it's a physical store I got it from, and it's something I can't do from DK.
