Verizon Wireless issued a formal statement clearing up the bru-haha about not activating the Google’s new LTE Nexus 7 on their LTE network. I wouldn’t go as far as saying all tablets are created equal but the Nexus 7 with LTE is still going through Big Red’s grueling device certification process. Verizon’s official statement is below.
The Google Nexus 7 is not yet a Verizon 4G LTE certified device, though it entered our process in August and we expect it will be certified shortly. Once the device is certified, we will work with Google to enable the device to be activated on our 4G LTE network.
Verizon Wireless’ certification process, which generally takes between four and six weeks, is one of the most rigorous testing protocols of any carrier, and is focused on guarding the safety and security of our network. Certification is done by third party labs approved by Verizon, and selected by the device manufacturer. Over the years, Verizon Wireless has certified hundreds of devices; information on the certification process is available to anyone at opennetwork.verizonwireless.com.
Verizon is committed to ensuring our customers have the best overall experience when any device becomes available on the nation’s most reliable network.
There you have it. It was nothing to do with missing CDMA support, the Nexus 7 not having enough Verizon bloatware, your money not being good enough, the Nexus 7 having an unlockable bootloader or even an evil plot to troll Jeff Jarvis who ended up filing a FCC complaint over this.
The good news is you don’t need to activate the Nexus 7 on Verizon. This is a LTE only device so you can get a micro-SIM activated for any other Verizon data device and swap it over to the Nexus 7 (I used the Verizon SIM from my Chomebook) or just buy a Nexus 7 with a T-Mobile activation kit and use the free month of mobile broadband service to hold you over until Verizon finishes up testing. Just don’t ask for an ETA.