Wondering where that elusive first Windows Phone 7 update is for your device? Microsoft has confirmed some carriers are blocking it.

Microsoft is slowly pushing out its first Windows Phone 7 update designed to improve further updates on the platform. The software giant is pushing the updates out in stages to various devices and carriers around the world. Some users may experience delays seeing the update whilst others may see the update immediately. However, others may never see the update according to Microsoft.

An official support person for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 support team confirmed on Tuesday that carriers are able to block the first update. “Some Mobile Operators have the right to skip one update if they wish,” said Diego T of Windows Phone support. “However, they can’t skip the next one, which would be an acumulative update and would include the previous one” he added. Diego says that “if your mobile operator decided to block this one” then you’ll still get the “NoDo” update in early March which will also include the improvements contained in the smaller 7008 update issued on Monday.

The confirmation that carriers are blocking the first Windows Phone 7 update follows on from previous comments by Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore. “If a carrier wants to stop an update, they can. But they will get it out on the next release,” said Belfiore in an interview with Paul Thurrott in November. “Carriers could in fact block updates to sell you a phone. That can happen,” he said. “We don’t expect that to happen. We are not going to push updates onto carrier networks that they have not tested. Microsoft is being very trusting of the carriers here. It’s very different from the situation with Windows Mobile, where every phone was very different and a full test pass was required on every phone. Here, there’s no impact on OEM code, network code, etc. There are upgrades that will require a full test pass. Most will not.”

Microsoft also confirmed on Tuesday that it is looking into reports of issues with Samsung Windows Phone 7 devices post update. “Microsoft is investigating reports related to the Windows Phone update process and will provide additional information and guidance as it becomes available”, said a company spokesperson. The issues stem from a Windows Phone 7 operating system update issued on Monday. The update, more of a patch, was ironically pushed to improve the platform update process. A number of Windows Phone 7 users applied the patch on Monday and some Samsung Omnia owners devices have been left in a “bricked” state. Devices simply instruct users to connect them to a PC, hard resetting the device or connecting it to a PC does not appear to solve the issue. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 support team is recommending users return their phones to stores to get them exchanged.