New Nokia 3310 Won't Work In The US; HMD Global Still In Talks With Carriers

The new Nokia 3310 was announced this week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with a $50 price tag. Unfortunately, it looks like the device might not even work properly in the United States.

The new Nokia 3310, which is made by HMD Global Oy, doesn’t support the technology that U.S. carriers are using. The device runs on the 900MHz frequency on 2G networks. In order to work on a U.S. carrier like AT&T, it would need to support 850MHz and 1900MHZ frequencies, according to CNET.

“It's not that we're not not launching in the U.S.,” HMD Global’s head of global marketing Patrick Mercanton said. "It's that the U.S. takes a little bit longer to ramp up.”

HMD Global revealed that it is currently in talks with U.S. carriers at MWC 2017 to sell their new Nokia phones including the 3310. This is key for HMD Global to succeed with its new Nokia phones, considering the fact that majority of handsets in the U.S. are being sold through carriers.

Although fans of the Nokia 3310 will undoubtedly be able to buy the phone through retailers like Best Buy and Amazon, they might not even be able to use it to make phone calls or send SMS text messages.

HMD Global will need to make sure that the compatible technology is included on the phone and pass carrier certification. Mecanton said that they “want to have a global launch” and that the U.S. is definitely on its radar.

The Nokia 3310 is slated to be released during the second quarter (April-June) of 2017, according to Phone Arena. But for the U.S., it might arrive at a later date. HMD Global will need to close a deal with at least one of the four major carriers in the country before it launches stateside.