Owners of the new Nexus 7 on Verizon will have to wait until Android 4.4 KitKat rolls out so they can activate their device on Verizon's LTE network.

Back in September, Verizon customers who bought the new Nexus 7 had an unpleasant surprise when they discovered that they couldn't activate their LTE-capable tablet on Verizon's network. The carrier issued a statement at the time saying that the new Nexus 7 was going through the certification process, which should've taken a few short weeks.

As it turns out, some problems were identified during the certification process and, as a result, Nexus 7 owners will have to wait until the tablet gets Android 4.4 KitKat to be certified on Verizon's network.

Verizon said that a "systems issue" arose during the testing process, apparently connected with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. With Android 4.4 imminent, Google and ASUS decided that it would be better to halt the certification process until KitKat rolls out.

"During the certification process for the Nexus 7, Google, Asus and Verizon uncovered a systems issue that required Google and Asus to undertake additional work with the Jelly Bean OS running on the device," Verizon explained in a brief statement to Android Police. "Since Google was about to launch its new Kit Kat OS, rather than undertake this work, Google and Asus asked Verizon to suspend its certification process until Google's new OS was available on the Nexus 7."

Verizon's certification process typically takes between four and six weeks to complete, if no problems occur. This means that owners of the new Nexus 7 will have to wait at least four to six weeks after Android 4.4 KitKat rolls out to activate their device on Verizon's network. Considering Verizon's track record so far, it wouldn't be much f a surprise if this process took even longer.

In the meantime, it remains unclear what that "systems issue" referred to. Verizon did not offer any additional details regarding this matter, and neither did Asus or Google. There's also no word for now as to when the Verizon Nexus 7 (2013) will get Android 4.4 KitKat.