Mobile data lost on Gray market phone

[Jan-l]

I have a Ulefone Armor 7e ruggedized phone which was working great for years.
A couple of weeks ago I lost mobile data and texting. After several attempts with Telus tech support I can sometimes get mobile data if I change the bands for the area I'm in. I have just been informed by Telus that recent security changes on the network are preventing "Gray market" phones from fully functioning on the network. That is disappointing given the technology exists on the phone and the network to make it secure.
I'm guessing Telus would much rather sell me a phone rather then allow me to bring my own.

[BillTelusCust]

Was your phone purchased at an authorized dealer through legitimate channels?  It isn't whether you bought the phone at Telus.  By your own definition, it is "Gray Market".  Which means not purchased through an authorized dealer.

[Jan-l]

The phone was bought directly from the manufacturer Ulefone, Telus is calling it Gray market because it's not one of their brands.

[Syaoran]

Unfortunately, Telus has been engaging in this practice for a little while now under the disguise of security but yet they still sell Huawei devices. I was forced to switch to Rogers because Telus stopped allowing my OnePlus 8T+ 5G from working that I purchased from T-Mobile USA and proceeded to do the same for my s23 Ultra that I also purchased directly from T-Mobile USA. Both devices work fine on Rogers, including VoLTE, VoNR, and 5G. This practice is solely to force customers to purchase over priced devices directly from Telus.

[Nannce]

I have the same problem with my husbands BV9900. Ir wouldn't irritate me quite so much if Telus would offer a good rugged phone. Guess you are supposed to buy their fragile phone and replace them constantly.

They outright lie, as they say bring your own phone and it will work on their network. Not!!!

How do you find out if a different phone will work on the Telus network?

[Syaoran]

It's definitely a very strange policy that I don't understand how the company gets away with. The only devices that might work fully as BYOD are the same devices Telus sells, but from other Canadian carriers, which still might require having the IMEI added to their system for VoLTE, WiFi Calling, and roaming to be permitted.

Edit:  Looking at devices available by providers in Canada.  There is a missed opportunity here to at least partner and sell devices fr CAT as one example of the many.  Samsung's Active series were great once upon a time but those haven't been made in what seems like forever.

[CJR]

There is the Sonim XP10 that is available if looking for a rugged phone sold through TELUS. It also includes a 3 year warranty that includes accidental damage if worried about breaking it and needing to replace it constantly.

[Syaoran]

My brother smashed one of those when he was working in construction. It fell off of a few stories and hit the contlcrete Those devices are rugged in name only.

[Jan-l]

I ended up buying another phone this time the CAT S-62, it worked up until Feb 22, 2024 at which point I could no longer send Group Texts. Again Telus blamed the phone even though it worked well for 3-months.

I ended up switching to Freedom Mobile and I'm able to use both of my phones without issue. Needless to say I'm back to using my Armor 7e.

[Syaoran]

Telus is the most aggresive Canadian carrier against provisioning devices they don't sell and even deprovisioning devices that worked fine for years. A perfect example, was my OnePlus 8T+ 5G from Telus' US doing partner. It works perfectly on every other Canadian carrier and worked for 2 and a half years on Telus before I was told by a Network Engineer (Ian), that it would not be allowed to be reprovisiined under the current Greg market rules. The same applied to my s23 Ultra I purchased from T-Mobile USA.