While it is true that for some brands carriers deploy updates to users’ devices, for that to happen the actual ROM has to be modified (usually with carrier branding and specific apps) to put a phone on that specific update stream. Unless I am mistaken, Fairphone does not have any such agreements with telephone providers. So if you are not on a carrier-specific ROM, the carrier cannot decide anything about what OTA updates are made available to your phone.
I think @fairitis addressed his question to the Fairphone foundatation, as I noticed that FP employees are also active on the forum. Hence they are also part of the community. 
BTW the .zip for the FP5.TT40.A.131 is now online on that page.
Carriers do have this control, it’s often also highlighted when the update is posted by an FP employee.
1 Like
I wonder then with which carriers Fairphone has made agreements to customise the firmware for that. Does anyone here have such a phone that updates through the carrier? That would be interesting and surprising for such a niche product.
And still its only rarely that employees participate and the forum remains no official support contact even if employees from time to time show up, so a you adresses still other users in general.
2 Likes
To my knowledge the carriers do not modify the firmware, but they (at least EU carriers) test updates and can stop them from being rolled out for “their” devices if a problem is found. If this happens it’s likely due to network incompatibility and it’ll usually be corrected with a coming update.
The update files themselves are always only distributed by Fairphone.
1 Like
That would mean that your phone downloads all OTA updates from Google’s servers and Google asks the carriers to approve the updates first. Probably carriers can choose to modify the ROM too at that point.
That means that without a carrier (or one that is unknown to Google) there is no approval possible, so you always get the latest update. That means you can probably just remove your SIM card to be sure to receive the latest update. Though I’m not sure how it works if you have two SIMs active. Probably both of them need carrier approval so you’d have to remove them both.
1 Like
Yes, I think that is a decent description of how it likely works. Including the removal of the SIM if you really want the update. With the exception that it’s probably not Google who asks for the approval but Fairphone.
As for dual SIM: I’m not entirely sure but my best guess is also that both carriers have to approve.
1 Like
I cheated a little bit to get the update. For Deutsche Telekom users it is disabled at the moment (maybe because of the 5G Problem). Removal of the SIM is not enough, so i use another SIM with O2 network and then i can install the update. If someone is here who has not installed the mid December Update, and is using the Deutsche Telekom Network, then it is better to wait, because it breaks the 5G connection. (Bad for me i installed the mid December update before it was blocked, so it is better to have the current update even it don’t change anything with the 5G Problem :))
Can you give me a time estimate to download a 2,25GB update? (2.25GB for USA) It’s for update “TT40.A.131”
Thanks
That depends on the speed of your online connection. On my PC it would be about 8 minutes.
Did you get the update by now? I’m still waiting. I don’t want to flash it myself, because maybe there is a reason the update is delayed by my carrier.
The update worked wonderfully. Even in my own way.
No I don’t get it . Shows me only the November Update.
1 Like
@Incanus: Exactly. That is exactly what indicates the IMPOSSIBILITY of this case:
- It was about an update on FP5, not a desktop computer.
- My internet connexion for the FP goes through Wifi (= slower) and via an operator who told me all my monthly resources were exhausted and thus it was put on a low speed (until today, where it’s refreshed). In Belgium internet and phone are extremely expensive.
@Sono
if your mobila data is limited, then don’t use it for large file download, but use wifi connection from your router with internet used also by computer 
anyway, december “update” 2.5GB size is not OTA update, but whole system in latest version for manualy reflashing (with full storage erase) on rooted phone, i think this is NOT what you want
regular december OTA v131 update (which is for normal update with keep all storage data and without root) is 560MB size…
btw: previous november OTA update v127 was 96MB size…
2 Likes
@Sono Have a look at your Play Store profile settings, there’s network preferences that let your turn off downloading app updates over your mobile carrier network.
Still no update here either. @anna_jopp are there known issues with this new update and some carriers? What could be the reason for the delayed release for some?
Here’s the same situation @anna_jopp . I have an Telekom eSim, disabled and renamed for weeks. A Vodafone SIM (with disabled 5G) is working fine. The latest update, available since 23.12., didn’t arrived yet. We are discussing FP update policy, which is regularly around 4 weeks to late, but even 2.5 weeks after release it isn’t available for all!?! What can I do to manually install the latest update?
Hi all, thank you for following up on this. I just wanted to let you know I have seen the question and I or a colleague will get back to you about this soon. 
7 Likes