'Explosive' Samsung Galaxy Note 7 forces EE and O2 to 'review' sales

Mobile operators' warehouses not insured to cover hazardous substances...

Mobile operators in the UK are following the example of US operators T-Mobile and AT&T, confirming to Computing that they are reviewing whether to continue offering the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.

It comes after a spate of fires involving the devices, including replacement units catching fire and exploding.

An EE spokesperson said in a statement that the company is "reviewing" its options after Samsung halted production of the smartphone.

"EE considers the safety of its customers to be of the utmost importance. Following recent media reports of further Note 7 issues in the US and Canada we are currently reviewing options and are in direct contact with Samsung on the matter," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, O2 said: "Safety of our customers is of utmost importance for us. We have not been selling the Note 7 since Samsung advised O2 in September that there would be an exchange programme for the phone. We are currently in discussions with Samsung and reviewing our options."

We contacted Three, Vodafone and Carphone Warehouse for their position but received no reply at the time of publication.

However, the Galaxy Note 7 is currently listed as 'out of stock' on the Three website, although a customer service rep told us that this was owing to the original recall, and that it has not halted sales of the smartphone altogether.

Vodafone lists the handset as available for pre-order only, but an advisor told us that the firm is shipping handsets on a first come first served basis. Vodafone is apparently suffering a shortage of stock, given Samsung's initial UK recall.

US carriers AT&T and T-Mobile revealed over the weekend that they will no longer replace explosion-prone Galaxy Note 7 devices, while the latter said that it will halt all sales of the phone.

"While Samsung investigates multiple reports of issues, T-Mobile is temporarily suspending all sales of the new Note 7 and exchanges for replacement Note 7 devices," T-Mobile said on its website.

We'll update this story as soon as we hear more.