14 DAY TRIAL // Verizon has just announced that it will not abide by Samsung's decision to render all Galaxy Note 7 units in the United States useless via a software update.
Earlier today, Samsung announced that starting December 19 it would push a software update to all Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in the United States, which is meant to prevent the battery from charging.
In addition, all Note 7 devices that will receive the update won't be able to connect to U.S. carriers' mobile networks anymore.
Well, it appears that Verizon does not condone with Samsung's drastic measures against Galaxy Note 7 customers and has announced that it will not be taking part in this update.
The Big Red says in the statement published recently that it's not going to release the update “because of the added risk this could pose to Galaxy Note 7 users that do not have another device to switch to.”
What the carrier means is that it doesn't want to release an update that will remove the ability for the Note 7 to work as a mobile device right in the middle of the holiday travel season.
“We do not want to make it impossible to contact family, first responders or medical professionals in an emergency situation,” reads Verizon's statement.
The U.S. carrier also notes that, alongside Samsung, it communicated the need for customers with a Galaxy Note 7 phone to stop using the device and go ahead and return or exchange it as soon as possible.
Verizon customers who own the Galaxy Note 7 and haven't returned it yet can still get an additional $100 from Samsung when purchasing one of their devices.
Samsung announced earlier today that about 93% of the Galaxy Note 7 units in the United States have already been returned, so there are still 7% of customers who will be affected by the upcoming software update.