The Lumia 900 was born with great expectations. Nokia’s (NYSE:NOK) place in the smartphone market has been sliding for years, so the company needs a hit. Since losing exclusivity for Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone, AT&T (NYSE:T) has been looking for a phone that would connect with consumers and boost profits. And Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) wants to see a hot-selling phone to drive its smartphone operating system into the mainstream.
However, the Lumia 900 might have hit a road bump as reports about data connection problems have surfaced. People who pre-ordered the phones through AT&T have started receiving them, Slashgear.com reports, and some say they can’t connect to the carrier’s data network.
According to Phone Arena, an unnamed source — purportedly inside AT&T — attributes the problem to a malfunction inside the phone. “These devices were mass produced in a plant in Mexico and there is a defect with the IMEI’s registering to the data network on 2G, 3G and 4G data,” the AT&T insider told Phone Arena. International Mobile Equipment Identity numbers confirm the validity of a mobile device to the network it is attempting to access.
Slashgear.com reports that the affected phones connect to the data network properly the first time they are started, but fail after being rebooted or placed into airplane mode (which temporarily disables network connections). The problem has prompted AT&T to withdraw affected phones and advise users to try removing the SIM card before conducting a reset and reboot of the phone. Slashgear.com notes that customers say the problem returns after such measures are tried.
The iPhone 4 also famously experienced connection issues due to its antenna design. Apple ultimately settled with consumers and went on to sell millions of iPhone 4 units.
Launched last week with a substantial marketing campaign that directly targets the iPhone, the Lumia 900 has received generally positive notice. The Chicago Sun Times called it a “credible” alternative to the iPhone and smartphones using Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system.
