Why does it take so long for Verizon to make an OS official? Are they always the last one? Literally dozens of OS’ came out for the 9530 before VZW moved up from .75; the only reason 5.0.0.320 went official was to prevent S1 owners from torching stores on the S2 release date; and now, even Sprint has an official Tour 5.0OS before Verizon!

I have a few theories as to why a US carrier would be slower than another carrier – the size of the coverage area. Sure, there are millions of users in the UK, but the country is slightly smaller than Oregon! (England itself is the same size as Alabama)* So it would makes sense that with such a large area to cover, it would take longer to test, well, anything. That’s still no excuse. I know I pay a fortune to VZW yearly, so it’s not like it’s a lack of funding. Are they just that picky about an OS? If you’re familiar enough to know about a leaked/other carrier’s OS, then you probably know enough to load it onto your phone…or know where to find out.
The most frustrating part of this is that, as the “tech support consultant” for my family, it’s not easy teaching my mom how to do something on her phone when her OS (Tour 4.7) is so different than mine (9550 5.0.0.428). I’ve finally gotten my dad up to 5.0 (with his new 9700), but my mom and brother are both VZW Tour users without the knowledge or desire to load a non-official OS.

So, what’s the deal guys? Why does it take so long?

Weigh in with your comments, theories and knowledge.

*Source