Librem 5 and Australia

Hardware Librem 5
61

That could be a function of the number of customers in countries that need the T1 variant (and it is not as if the BM818-T1 is the only possible modem that could do the job).

I am in Evergreen anyway so there is no huge rush for my phone. It could ship on June 30, 2020 i.e. 7 months away and still meet the commitment.

For all the talk about IP calling etc. the bottom line for me is that if this phone can’t make voice and data calls and do SMSs then it is a failure. Running nice applications is secondary. Convergence is tertiary. So the modem situation needs to get sorted out and if that takes more time then so be it.

1 Like
62

As we know:

Just thinking (not knowing) loudly: what if there (Asia-Pacific Telecommunity) is mandatory (or otherwise not eligible for the official certification) for any handset to support both 3G (UMTS) bands within the very same modem: 3G 850MHz (B5) and 3G 900MHz (B8)? IMO, @36w4r6, @deedend and @zero should understand this much better than I do. Note: 3G support on 2100MHz (B1) might already be obsolete.

Current Thales Group company’s mPLS8-US variant brings:
3G (UMTS): 1900(B2), 1700 AWS (B4) and 850(B5) MHz,

and mPLS8-E variant brings with it:
3G (UMTS): 900(B8), 1800(B3) and 2100(B1) MHz.

As of now, on 3G wireless voice telephony (besides having VoLTE support), to me looks like that only Quectel EM06-E and EM12-G are eligible to be used in Australia. On the other side those two Quectel M.2 modems are not supporting 2G GSM voice fallback (CSFB), that, for example, counts here in Germany**. Is BM818-T1 already considered to be ACMA certified for use in Australia as “the only possible” M.2 “modem that could do the job”? Would be nice if answer might sound like this: “Right now, we are pursuing the RCM mark for Australia.”

This is just some kind of self-thought, liking to point out to LTE Carrier Aggregation (like 5A-28A or 8A-28A), liking to learn more about, perhaps nothing serious from my side.

**P.S. Comparatively to 3G frequencies, mPLS8-US variant brings:
2G (GSM): 850(B5), 900(B8), 1800(B3) and 1900(B2) MHz,

and mPLS8-E variant brings:
2G (GSM): 900(B8) and 1800(B3) MHz. This is, for example, required/needed frequencies feature within Germany until 31.12.2033.

63

That’s an interesting question. I wouldn’t have thought so, but honestly I have no idea.

1 Like
64

I believe that things are always moving forward. Here is just an legacy upgrade, current example of ETM-ADB-ELS61 LTE Cat.1 module (without Voice support) that supports minimum of needed Australian LTE (3,5,8,28) and 3G (1,5,8) frequency bands. Similar/adequate Cinterion LTE Cat.4 or LTE Cat.6 modules are for sure somewhere around the corner.

65

Hi everyone, I’m wondering, shouldn’t Purism be answering this question ‘Does their Librem phone work in Australia?’ or at least has ANYONE bought one of their phones and used it here? I’ve scrolled through many comments on similar threads… and am wondering why we (Australians) are trying to work through this… wouldn’t the company be the best to answer this? I’m also wondering if the Librem 5 USA works in Australia as opposed to the Librem 5… which has a long wait… not sure what the differences are.

66

I am in Australia, bought a phone (Librem 5, received 2 years ago) and it works in Australia.

If you are specifically asking about carrier compatibility, see also: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Cellular-Providers (scroll down to get to Australia).

I successfully tested the Librem 5 on the Telstra network and on the TPG/Vodafone network. I haven’t tested it on the Optus network. That is no way a suggestion that it won’t work with Optus, just that I haven’t tested it and hence I can’t make any claims.

One of the problems with reading old topics is that the information can be out of date. There was a time in the dim dark past when it was uncertain whether the Librem 5 would work in Australia (particularly in the bush) because at the time the “-T1” modem variant was not yet being offered. (That’s the variant you will need in Australia.) That consideration has long ceased to be an issue.

“My” topic covering (initially) any Australia-specific issues is at: [MyL5] Australia/New Zealand

It is my understanding that the modem cards for the Librem 5 USA are the same as those for the Librem 5. So there should be no differences between the two phones as far as mobile network issues go.

The core difference between the Librem 5 USA and the Librem 5 is that the former is assembled in the US, from components made in the US as far as is possible. The consequent difference is that the former is a lot more expensive (and that is an unpleasant difference with the way the exchange rate is at the moment). Only you can decide what your goals are in contemplating a purchase and hence which is best suited to you.