Nokia Suspends Sales of Touschseen 5800 Handset in USA

Nokia has been forced to suspend sales of its flagship touchscreen phone following complaints that the phone is having problems with the US phone networks. The company is still able to offer a European version of the handset, the 5800, which has slightly restricted 3G frequency band support for the US market.

Two main problems have affected the North American version of the handset.

Firstly, the earpieces are reportedly not sealed correctly against moisture. The affected models all appear to come from a batch delivered late last year, although more recent deliveries do not seem to have the same problem.

The second problem seems to be more serious, as the handset is said to be having problems connecting to AT&T's WCDMA network. Customers are complaining that the phone works fine on the GSM and EDGE networks - but cannot connect to the 3G network.

In a statement Nokia said the issue was "a very isolated problem concerning only the North American market and is not specific to any other region or country", adding "Nokia is investigating the issue. Existing customers of the 5800 XpressMusic who experience 3G signal issue with the device are advised to contact Nokia Customer Care."

On the web: The Nokia Blog

Posted to the site on 2nd March 2009