The answer to this may be somewhere on the Pure site, but I’ve been looking and can’t find it.
In their comparisons there are two different variants of the Gemalto modem. For my purposes it appears that I would be needing the PLS8-US, not the other. Is this something that I get to choose when ordering? I assume that there is an answer but it evades me at the moment.
I think you need to look at bands, not frequencies. Within LTE, there are multiple bands called / using “700 MHz” and multiple bands called / using “850 MHz”. (In the web site that you gave us, click on a tower to see the band that is in use.)
I could be wrong but I think that with the PLS8-US, the only usable band would be Band 5 (850 MHz), and that would limit you to Vodafone only, which in many areas would mean poor coverage.
I think you could be better off with the PLS8-E. I suggest you recheck under that assumption.
I stand by my original advice: wait and see.
Thanks Kieran
Yes. I agree that waiting is the way to go. I am a self-confessed infant in this area so advice to wait is well taken. I am also keeping an eye on the e-foundation stuff as well. But if I can support the Pure initiative I will.
I would presume that they will ask before shipping. I have ordered but I haven’t been asked which modem yet. I believe the modems hadn’t been selected when I ordered.
There was a post saying that they were looking at a more compatible modem about a month ago. It’s great to see that they have not given up.
Thanks for that. I hope they don’t give up. We may be a small part of the market so I hope we don’t miss out.
Its a pity that, if they do come up with something for Oz conditions that we will not get the advantage of the pre-order price which was one thing motivating me. Mind you, it was good to be motivated. I’ve learnt a heap in the past week or so.
Thank you for posting that chart. It will require some study now to see how this goes for my area really.
I posted about a modem that does have B28:
Just an update regarding the Australian bands and the ones supported by the Broadmobi BM818-T1 variant:
4G
Australia is currently using these LTE bands (LTE bandmask in brackets):
2100MHz (B1) FDD (0000000000000001) – Telstra, Optus, Vodafone
1800MHz (B3) FDD (0000000000000004) – Telstra, Optus, Vodafone
850MHz (B5) FDD (0000000000000010) – Vodafone
2600MHz (B7) FDD (0000000000000040) – Optus, Telstra (TPG have a license but have not announced plans for it.)
900MHz (B8) FDD (0000000000000080) – Telstra (a handful of sites, utilises spectrum previously used by 2G)
700MHz (B28) FDD (0000000008000000) – Telstra, Optus
2300MHz (B40) TDD (0000008000000000) – Optus (Vivid wireless spectrum, metropolitan area), NBN (regional area including Gold Coast)
3500MHz (B42) TDD (0000020000000000) – Optus, NBN (Both trials at this stage)
And these are the frequencies supported by the new modem (if the T1 variant will be confirmed):
BM818-T1:
FDD-LTE:B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B28/B66
TDD-LTE:B34/B38/B39/B40/B41(200M)
Apparently this modem could finally solve all the issues regarding Australian customers (like me), because it covers every band of every telco (I marked the bands in the list), except for the B42 that is very high frequency and used only by Optus and NBN so far.
If I go in Europe for example, the situation changes a bit, because I’m not covered for all the frequencies:
B1 2100 MHz
B3 1800 MHz
B7 2600 MHz
B8 900 MHz
B20 800 MHz
B28 700 MHz
B32 1500 MHz
B38 2600 MHz
B40 2300 MHz
Which is fine, considering that I stay there usually for a month per year… It’s a pity that the T1 variant doesn’t support frequency B20, that in Italy it’s important as much as B28 in Australia, but I guess I can live with that for that month.
I took the data about the frequencies from Whirlpool.net.au and from Wikipedia
So just to be sure for Australia, which of the Broadmobi would it be? I couldn’t work out the T1 variant bit 
BM818-E1 or
BM818-A1
Sorry to be so concrete. I just want to get this right before I order.
T1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
According to https://puri.sm/faq/supported-networks/, Purism is considering only the BM818-E1 and BM818-A1 variants on ship right now
UPDATE: A post from a support technician down below says that they are also working with the BM818-T1 and other variants:
Oh, seriously??? So I still have to cancel my order??? Damn!!
I’m based in Australia and have been a backer for about a year and I’m very keen to get my Librem 5.
Purism, if you’re listening, please reconsider adding the T1 variant. This will make a HUGE difference for coverage in Australia!
Thanks!
Looks like us Aussies miss out, at least for now. It’s probably not feasible to offer the variants for our small market. It’s a shame. I’m trying to get into the Pure world but maybe not just yet. I’d pay for the variant, and handsomely at that. I’m just waiting now for e foundation to announce a reseller for their phones in Oz and I’ll get my girl one and see what it’s like. I think that one will be more user friendly for her. I truly hope the Librem 5 becomes a possibility for us down here.
I’d ask them directly. I don’t know how many Australian backers they have. Maybe only a dozen? The question is also, if it is too much effort for them to officially support/test it, can you buy it directly? I’d just ask them about it. You could also offer to test it for them - because if they are serious about QA, somebody would have to travel down under for that.
Yes, probably our market is too small to be sustainable to offer the T1 variant of the phone. Well, I was keen as well to have my Librem 5, but at this stage I am forced to cancel my order and wait for the Pinephone, even if the Librem 5 idea was really exciting.
I hope the project will be a huge success, maybe I’ll bake Librem 5 version 2, who knows, maybe they’ll use a RISC-V chipset (after they sponsored the LIBRE RISC-V M-CLASS, I am really curious about that CPU!!
I think someone from Purism needs to step in with a clarification.
In Italy with device/modem supporting LTE Band 28 you will be very soon on the safe side (even without B20). Here is confirming link. I already wrote (somewhere here) why LTE B28 will be introduced within the whole EU region. For example, from this summer, it is already in use in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Rest is up to the Purism (Gemalto/Broadmobi).
Ugh… Please Purism, (re)consider offering the BroadMobi BM818-T1!