[General Topics] IT_Architect:
In December I bought a brand-new Note 20 Ultra 5G because I wanted MST and needed dual-SIM. It was a U1 phone. Verizon Pre-pay could not register the eSIM on their network after their may attempts, but ViSible instantly could, so I switched to them. This is strange because ViSible is not an MVNO. ViSible is Verizon's new pre-pay division where they have been sending ads to direct people from Verizon Pre-pay. There are some pros and cons to switching but I didn't have much choice if I wanted to remain on the Verizon network with the Note 20 Ultra 5G. After switching and porting the number, everything was right back where it was including voicemail. Nothing had to be re-set up.

In December I also took the phone to Colombia where it worked fine in its dual-SIM capacity on both the Verizon eSIM for Wi-Fi calling and receiving, and the Claro Pre-Pay network for local calling and receiving. I returned to the States on the 11th of January for year end stuff. Everything is still U1 with "Auto update system" in Developer Options turned off.

A couple days ago I received a notification of an update from Samsung and one of the countries on the list was Colombia. I figured U1 is U1 so I'm not sure why it mentioned Colombia and a few others in the list, possibly those were Claro-serviced countries. I decided to make sure the update doesn't break more than it fixes before proceeding. However, since I was no longer in Colombia, and my Claro Pre-pay would expire in another 12 days, I decided to remove the Claro SIM. Instantly the notification area changed and said that it needed to reboot the phone and would update the firmware with no way to refuse. This update would have been to the carrier's U firmware. I put the Claro SIM back in, and it went back to the Samsung message of informing me there was an update available, but not forcing the install. I noted a few things from this:

1. This situation did not occur until there was an update available.

2. When it sees the Claro/Foreign SIM, it informs you that there is an update available from Samsung, which would be the U1. Without the Claro SIM, it forces a carrier update, ignoring what you have set up "Auto update system" and will bring the phone to U.

This makes sense because it saves carriers such as Verizon a lot of tech support headaches when people call about their visual voicemail not being available and other server-based and proprietary services that work with their proprietary apps. The only U.S. network that is very close to being standards-based is T-Mobile, and it plays the best for people that travel a lot or it is part of the job such as working on a cruise ship. That network is optimized for that. For me, the Verizon network is better while in the U.S. Thus, the answer in my case is leaving the Claro SIM in the phone, which enables the phone to respect Auto update system Off, and defaults the firmware updates to the U1s from Samsung.

For me, it's not about bloatware. One could argue that Samsung has some of that. I need the U1 firmware since I use the phone for travel, and the U1 firmware is completely standards-based, eliminating the headaches when trying to join non-U.S. networks, and from also accidentally relying on proprietary apps from U.S. carriers that do not work with the standards-based non-U.S. networks. You may give up a few things until there is a standard for that area that is also implemented by the carrier.

Both cell phone manufacturers and cellular providers are getting increasingly leery of deploying proprietary hardware and firmware. Example: iOS has one-way emergency satellite communications. Qualcomm developed a 2-way with a partner that is far superior. Not even one of the manufacturers would implement it until there is a standard, thus the only recourse presently for Android users is the proprietary Motorola USB-C device. The same is happening with carrier services. When they build a network around proprietary technologies for competitive advantage, because of competition, the money is no longer there to rip-and-replace when a standard arrives to replace their proprietary service. Towers and equipment have not been owned and maintained by the cellular providers for a long time. They are shared across providers. The FCC has forced the sharing bands now. Non-U.S. countries were slightly later to deploy and thus do not have as much of a proprietary legacy to deal with. For a U.S. citizen traveling abroad, they want to buy a phone for the U.S. Because of the density and bands required in the U.S., they will work anywhere, but non-U.S. phones will not work on U.S. networks. It appears that with Samsung at least, you need to have a method to prevent your phone from getting pushed from U1 to U firmware. For me it is the Claro SIM. It might be an eSIM from MoviStar could do the same.