You may recall that I had two N95 (now called Classic), one each from Vodafone and T-Mobile. When V12 firmware came out I used NSS to 'de-brand' so that I could get the V12 as both network operators had not issued their branded versions. It was very many months before Vodafone's arrived, and T-Mobile's came out even later than that.

There is nothing much wrong with de-branding. The one time that NSU killed off my N95 it was still in warranty with Vodafone and they took it away and eventually replaced it with a fully refurbished handset. NSU [then] seemed to have a habit of killing N95 - but I don't know if that carries across to the N95-8GB