Where do OTA updates come from?

[domoarigato]

Where do OTA updates actually come from?

For example let's say you own a Manufacturer ABC cell phone, have it running on Service Provider DEF towers, but are using MVNO XYZ to provide service.

When you perform an OTA update, who is actually providing the bits (the actual ROM) and who is transmitting it to you? I guess that's really 2 questions.

 

[Bg260]

I'm pretty sure they come from a secret government compound buried deep in a mountainside.

Seriously though most updates are pushed from your carrier. DEF in this example. I could be wrong though.

 

[Hadron]

Of it's a carrier phone then from the carrier. If it's an unbranded one then from the manufacturer.

 

[domoarigato]

Of it's a carrier phone then from the carrier. If it's an unbranded one then from the manufacturer.

What about an unlocked phone that was originally offered by the carrier, but was only used on the MVNO (never directly on the carrier itself)?