Of course, because T-Mobile's 3G band operates at a different frequency from ATT's, and the iPhone can't work with T-Mobile's 3G band.

T-Mobile definitely changed something on their end, but they maintain that the problem is the iPhone (which is an unsupported phone). We either have to disable voicemail indication entirely or else put up with the blank text messages (personally, I find the latter better than not knowing that I have received a voicemail). I was told that I should disable visual voicemail on the iPhone but that doesn't appear to be an option unless someone knows of a hack.

Bottom line: T-Mobile is responsible, but this has little chance of being fixed.

Indeed a troubling issue. the M.W.I or Message Waiting Indicator is something used by all carriers except AT&T. it is a simple paging message sent from the carriers Voicemail Platform via thier switch to your device to indicate if the device should display the Voicemal Flag (showing there is a message) or not display the flag (no messages or messages cleared). Visual Voicemail has nothing to do with this.

This issue will effect all Tmobile Customers with Unlocked iPhones. they changed the coding in the paging message to a format the iPhones can't read correctly. after speaking with a former co worker who is now working for Tmobile, this is something they know about but are not changing as it does not affect users who have Tmobile authorized devices. in short unlocked iPhone users are stuck with it.

Possible ploy to get us to quit our iPhones and grab a G1? who knows but all one can do is report the case and threaten to churn to another carrier. enough of these complaints and they will fix the issue as it costs them 10 dollars everytime they field a call and more if they have to invest the time to Troubelshoot with you. so let em have it and they will fix it!

*update*

Do not I repeat do not choose the option of haviing Tmobile disable your MWI as there are many other types of paging messages that are delivered to the phone via sms. if you have them disable it then there is a good chance that your device will not be able to recive the needed messages to keep the device properly functioning & registering on the network, and is some cases this can cause standard sms issues or even block your sms abilities all together.

I have unlocked my fair share of devices with no issues, with that said I am in no way a supreme iphone guru, however I am a Top Level Technical Analyst for a company that was eaten by Lord Sidious and his evil AT&T empire, so when it comes to Net Ops and Wireless net goodies I have some decent info and sources as I have been in the industy for years.

Honestly the only solution outside of a patch that will correctly read the new MWI coding is for Tmobile to correct the paging issue. they know the iPhone well and even have SOC codes for features in there billing systems that are specific to iPhones for rate plans and data usage. so dont let em play dumb, the iPhone has been out for quite a while now & remember they cant afford to churn customers.

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SDK head with 1.1.4 OTB upgraded to 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 & now running 2.2.1 Fully PWNED. what's next?

I called again, and the T-Moble tier3 rep sent me this:

I did threaten to join ATT, but that hasn't worked.

just trying to provide some info to help clarify the issue. they will be resistant on this issue as iphones are not thier devices and using them on the netowrk does not help their overall return on operations. wish I had more to help fix the problem. again I am just trying to participate not cause any issues. sorry if I offended anyone or relayed confusing statements.

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SDK head with 1.1.4 OTB upgraded to 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 & now running 2.2.1 Fully PWNED. what's next?

Hello,

Steven with T-Mobile here in an unofficial capacity. I was just alerted to this issue today. I was able to replicate this with my own iPhone after moving myself to a different voicemail server.

The issue was the voicemail notification that was being sent out. It was going through a new component that was causing it to send as an SMS instead of a VM notification.

We've corrected it. You should only get a proper VM notification (red dot) when you actually get a VM from now on.

Long live the iPhone and let's all pray for a fully unlocked iPhone 3G with a 1700 Mhz band... :-)

-Steven

I was just about to post that it seems as though my iphone voicemail/text problem was fixed, as I am no longer receiving the blank text messages when I receive/retrieve my voicemails, and I saw your post! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All solved now... yay!

Steven,

Thank you very much.

My voice mail notifications are back to normal.

It's nice to know that T-Mobile still listens to their customers.

Is this a temporary fix or a permanent one? In other words, are any of us at risk of being migrated again to a voice mail server that sends SMS alerts?

Steven,

You are a god. But why has there been so much misinformation from Tier 3 tech support? I was told twice that the problem was with the iPhone's visual voicemail feature, although my voicemail had worked fine for over a year -- until last Thursday.

I just spoke with a tmbile tier 3 rep and was told the issue is not fixed and I should leave my VM notification off or I will continue to receive the blank texts. Is anyone else still having problems?