@xssfox @SnoopJ @pjf really?

Is #Australia that cyberfacist?

• Like I know one's not supposed to have stuff or rather is not allowed to use it for obvious reasons but criminalizing mere possession is just absurd.

• But then again #Australia also #IMEI-banned devices due to #VoLTE mandate and banned encrypted devices…

@LaF0rge @kDelta @stman @Sempf espechally in places like #Germany where regulators like @BNetzA get record-breaking bids for #spectrum allocations solidly into the billions!

• And having at least narrowband #2G coverage is considered a "necessary evil" to fulfill spectrum obligations and keep pre-paid assignments if they don't want to get those yoink'd like #Quam when they faceplanted after their painfully failed launch.

• Not to mention #eCall uses #2G and has been made mandatory for new cars since 2017...

• Also #Australia currently learns the hard way that even #VoLTE devices switch to 2G and/or #3G calling once they are dialling 000 (their local emergency services hotline).

@LaF0rge @stman @kDelta @Sempf obviously that's why it was discontinued for a time in #Germany, as it was considered as obsolete as #HSCSD is in light of faster standards that - even without guaranteed bandwith - will yield higher throughput.

• Obviously #CellBroadcast will necessitate a constant bandwith allocation for functionality as it's design is based upon repeating a message until it's transmissiom being removed.

Still, even in contended #spectrum this is manageable, espechally since most #MNOs only maintain vestigal #2G or #3G infrastructure solely for #emergency coverage and reliability, as most phones will call emergency services over 2G and 3G and not via #VoLTE.

• To add insult to injury, most BSCs will downgrade to 2G-only service by default in case of power loss to maximize UPS range and in the case of #NewZealand even switch off all services but #SMS & #EmergencyServicesCalling to enshure people in need can get their calls out, as the population is instructed to use SMS for person-to-person communication (as SMS is a low-priority, non-realtime service using excess bandwith and thus not compete with calling like #EDGE and #CSD would.

@LaF0rge @sysmocom I do agree on that one.

The main problem with some mandate in that regard is that such regulations then get flexed against consumers.

Notable examples are the:

• #IMEI-Blocking in #Turkey after 90 days and subsequent demand for #KYC even for #Roaming devices.
• #Australia's IMEI-Firewall because some morons decided they wanted to axe #2G & #3G despite millions of devices that can't do #VoLTE still being in use.

Now granted anyone who can manipulate the IMEI can circumvent that but that means 99,9% of all users aka. "#TechIlliterates" can't.

@okennedy @phosh May depend on your region and carrier but the latest versions of #postmarketOS appear to support #VoLTE on the #Librem5 if my #BM818-tools testing was correct. In any case, my calls (including emergency calls) worked fine back when I was using legacy unencrypted calls. Now on a data-only plan.

@GrapheneOS @fluffery @maumau @BryanGreyson @fairphone I.e. @BrodieOnLinux could not use any of those because they don't support #VoLTE (not just in #Australia) and thus would be blocked by the #IMEI-#Firewall!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIJavqEzEIw

It appears my Android can do 4G mobile data, but not VoLTE calling. So ... is that a software support limitation? Could installing LineageOS make it VoLTE capable? There seems to have a LineageOS build for it;

https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/fajita/

And don't even get me started on #VoLTE support...

• Like #Australia had the glorious idea of shutting down #3G AND #2G as well as #allowlisting only specific #IMEI|s, banning > 500k devices for no good reason.

Also most #VoLTE / #Vo5G - devices *explicitly use #2G / #3G for #EmergencyCalls!

• Which is #funfuckingtastic in a place like Australia where basically everything in nature conspires to hurt or kill humans!