As some of you may probably know, current Android versions give you the ability to access network signal strength by heading to the SIM Status menu in Settings. But now it looks like the information may be made optional in future.

A recent piece of code committed to the Android Open Source Project reveals there are plans to give carriers the ability to hide the signal strength information.

Reports say the feature was requested by carriers, and Google agreed to their demand. There's, however, no information on exactly why carriers want such a feature (which would presumably come into affect when a SIM is inserted).

It's also worth mentioning that the change only affects the 'Signal strength' option that's there in the SIM Status menu. It doesn't affect the APIs that are used to fetch this information, meaning third party apps would still be able to show signal strength.

Source | Via