US E70 won't work in Australia. Could it be broken or locked or... ?

[SirGarence]

Hi all,

I have a Nokia E70 that can't connect to any Australian cellular networks (it connects to my Wifi without a problem).

It was purchased in the USA in 2008 and worked fine over there (roaming) with my Aussie SIM, as well as in Canada and the UK (where I also successfully used a UK SIM).

I would have thought that if it had worked with those country & SIM combinations then it should work in Aus with a local SIM (and I've tried SIMs from 2 different Aussie carriers).

At the moment it just shows the aerial icon but with no signal bars - there's no 'X' that you get when the phone is in offline mode - and if I switch it on near a radio I hear no interference, which makes me suspect the aerial may be busted or disconnected. Or could it be a GSM frequency issue?

FYI, #*0000# yields:

3.0633.09.04
20-11-06
RM-24
Nokia E70

Any ideas would be most welcome, thanks!

[enufwireless]

I only own a E72 but looking at gsmarena.com specs for the E70, I see the American version has no 900MHz capability. It is 1800MHz capable, which may be unavailable in the location you are in? Check with your local network operator and ask where their 1800MHz coverage is found.

Hope that helps.

[SirGarence]

Thanks for responding!

I'll try taking the E70 into the centre of town (I live in the outer suburbs) and see if makes a difference. Interestingly I get a ringback tone when I dial the emergency number, so it's definitely picking up a signal from somewhere.

[enufwireless]

Hello Sir,

What happened when you took your E70 into city centre?

[Blue4Life]

Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (S60; SymbOS; Opera Mobi/SYB-1103231405; U; en-US) Presto/2.7.81 Version/11.00)

The North American version of the E70 does not have suppport for 900 MHz that is widely used elsewhere. However, the 1800 MHz may be used depending on the carrier.