Telstra and WPDownUnder go way back. Since the debut of Windows Phone in Australia, WPDownUnder (or Sheeds’ Blog for those of you that go that far back) really started out of a desire to share Windows Phone info for the Aussie community – and to prompt and engage Telco’s and OEM’s to support and even (yeah I know, crazy as it seems) push the platform here! Now that we know the WP8 roadmap, the reason for Microsoft’s “soft-launch” and relatively low consumer promotional spend on Windows Phone 7/7.5 is abundantly clear! With steady improvements over time, Telstra is now cementing itself as the prime Windows Phone Carrier in the marketplace. This week they took a further step by implementing new enhancements to their customers on smartphone software updates…exactly as WPDownUnder had asked them to do over 6 months ago!

Back in April 2011, in the midst of the NoDo update fiasco, Telstra implemented their first Smartphone update table/page, following on from a user-voice styled improvement campaign, where this idea ranked highest thanks to WPDownUnder leading a campaign to get it to top billing! Fast forward to the start of this year, and whilst the table was still there, it proved to be rarely updated and contain little practical advice (no “real” status). This prompted the following CrowdSupport post (Telstra community forums) by WPDownUnder:

At this time, Telstra representatives had confirmed they were reviewing the process internally. Fast forward 6 months to the Mango MCR3 refresh – and little had changed in the format or style of software updates from Telstra. A number of CrowdSupport members and WP7 owners began querying Telstra for more information on the MCR3 updates – leading us to post a clarifying statement outlining the WP7 update process to assist the situation:

This week, Telstra have finally over-hauled their smartphone update communication process to their customers, taking a leaf out of Vodafone’s book by committing to weekly update posts. In doing so, they confirmed to all their smartphone customers that they have improved the “status” section of their updates – with more info on where the update process is at for each OS/device – and also provided a general overview of the generic update process (for a small fee I would have delivered this to you 6 months ago Telstra, now I will just wait for the commission, OK )

The Status descriptions they will advise are:

• Waiting for initial vendor submission: A commitment has been made by the device vendor to supply the update and Telstra are waiting for the test submission. Where specific timings have been supplied then these will be provided.
• First round testing: Update is in its first round of Telstra testing. Minor updates only require one round of testing. A Telstra test round generally takes 2 weeks. The planned number of test rounds is shown in the Expected test rounds column.
• Waiting for second FW submission: Vendor is working on providing the second version of the update for Telstra testing.
• Second round testing: Update is in its second round of Telstra testing. Major updates generally have 2 rounds of testing scheduled. A Telstra test round generally takes 2 weeks. The planned number of test rounds is shown in the Expected test rounds column.
• Waiting for additional FW submission: Vendor is working on providing an additional version of the update for Telstra testing.
• Third or greater round of testing: Updates generally are planned for up to 2 rounds of testing. If further rounds are required due to unplanned circumstances then this will be reflected by this phase status.
• Approved by Telstra – waiting for deployment by vendor: The update has been tested and approved by Telstra and is waiting for deployment by the device or OS vendor.
• Now available: Update is available to customers.

And their overview of the update process (generic vs. see my WP7 outline above) is:

Source: Telstra CrowdSupport Updates FAQ.

We can now expect to see weekly news from Telstra right HERE in their Telstra Community forums (CrowdSupport) – which I encourage WP7AU owners (if Telstra customers) to check out! Thanks Telstra, it’s definitely an improvement over what we had before – and better late than never – for Windows Phone Down Under!

Sheeds