I don't know anything about point 1, but regarding the point 2, it seems like that. People have reported that they managed to get volte/vowifi working in Orange Flex using codes. In OrangePL network it is blocked by Orange and when question on this forum are raised whether Asus is doing something in order to get the phone certified, either nobody from Asus responds (except one response from very long ago, that we, as customers should contact Orange to get the recertification) or the responses are rather evasive, without any solid information provided.
I am wondering what will happen when Orange (and other carriers) disable the 3G (UMTS) system, which is planned to happen somewhere around 2023-2024. If volte/vowifi won't be available by then, every call will have to go through 2G (GSM) system, which means that constant transition between 5G (or 4G) and 2G will occur, which is an absurd (both for the carrier and the customers), bearing in mind that Zenfone 8 is capable of both volte and vowifi...