BIS discontinued?
 

Myself, living in South Africa all our service providers are friendly forcing us to take a new plan called blackberry absolute or something like that.. Honestly BIS made blackberry.. Without BIS blackberry is just a software difference from a Samsung and Nokia
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Re: BIS discontinued?
 

Last I read anything on this, the information was (a) you don't need BIS with BB10, but (b) it is up to the carriers and there was at least one example of a carrier requiring the customer to have BIS with BB10.

Haven't heard of BlackBerry Absolute. Sounds to me like your carrier's invention.
Posted via BlackBerryForums.com Mobile

Re: BIS discontinued?
 

It seems BIS has reached the end of useful life. The compression is certainly nice, but the main reason for it, to give a unified connection environment world wide, is no longer needed. In fact from a developer (or power user) point of view the multiple connection methods was becoming or had become difficult to handle, and confusing for the average user. One could argue that what we have now is no less confusing, but aiharkness seems to have captured it quite well. Over time it will sort itself out.

This is not the only change introduced with BB10 that will not be universally hailed as a good decision. The PIN number as a usable address is also, apparently, on the way out. This is being replaced by the BBID. There are many benefits to this. You take your BBID with you as you move from one device to another; the BBID can span multiple classes of device (phone and tablet), so in theory push data could go to your phone and your tablet in the future. The down side is that, since the BBID is essentially an email address, having a separate messaging protocol built around it to replace PIN-to-PIN messaging doesn't make much sense. So PIN-to-PIN is noticeable by its absence from BB10 (people have reported the Z10 can still receive, but not send, PIN-to-PIN). This has also made some people unhappy.

Because BB10 devices don't need BIS, you don't need a special plan from the carrier. This may be good or bad for an individual depending on needs and what is offered by local carriers. For most personal BlackBerry users I think it is overall an improvement.

Re: BIS discontinued?
 

I'm thinking that although BIS worked very well that BB began to view it as a liability. When it occasionally went down, RIM suffered world wide condemnation. BIS required investment in infrastructure. Phasing BIS out means money saved in the long run. Charging the subscription fee for BIS is also becoming more difficult or at least less attractive to consumers many of whom have existed quite happily without BIS for some years now.

I'm going to miss it but BBM will, if I understand correctly, still be BIS like.

Re: BIS discontinued?
 

I think what you're trying to say is that BIS was the soul of the BlackBerry ;-)

Re: BIS discontinued?
 

Certainly the infrastructure build out if they were to grow significantly would be huge. Can you imagine if the growth of the smartphone market that Apple kicked off with the iPhone had happened with BlackBerry instead? The BIS/BES infrastructure would have collapsed and that could have killed the company.

Apple saved RIM/BlackBerry. Who'd of thunk it?

Re: BIS discontinued?
 

Definitely part of it. When in foreign locales, that BIS logo on my BB was reassuring.

Re: BIS discontinued?
 

How sad.

Re: BIS discontinued?
 

Well, discontinuation of BIS does mark a turning point in the journey of RIM now BlackBerry. The change of the company's name is significant and reflects a new business model. However, just so there's no confusion for some, BIS will continue to be supported for legacy devices for at least a few years to come.

Re: BIS discontinued?
 

BIS isn't going away tomorrow. BlackBerry will continue to support 7.1 and older devices for a quite a while from what I've read.