[rainmakr]

configuration: 7100g on a BES

I have a user who wants to take a 7100g to Europe (Greece). It is our understanding that he can keep his SIM chip (if that's the correct terminology) in and pay international roaming fees. I'm curious if he can swap out his SIM for one from a European carrier during his trip and minimize expenses?

- is swapping the SIM easy for the user to have done? -- whether the user does it himself or has the carrier do it, is it painless or do they give you grief?

- will swapping the SIM affect his data functionality?

- will he have any problems when he gets back stateside and puts the original SIM back in the unit?

Cingular says that swapping the SIM would affect his data connectivity, RIM support says it won't (I suspect RIM is correct...). But am not sure about access to the SIM and forgot to ask RIM about it when I was on the line.

Thank you,
John

[serpico]

Yes, he can keep the Cingular SIM card and pay the international roaming rates.

He can also swap out the Cingular SIM card and put in a European carrier's pre-paid SIM card and pay lower rates for local calls. To do this, he will need to unlock the phone. T-Mobile allowed me to unlock my phone (they provided an unlocking code) for just this purpose. Call Cingular and ask for the unlock procedure and code.
Physically swapping the SIM card is very simple - it sits underneath the battery.

Not sure about data with new local SIM card.

No problems when putting the Cingular SIM back in.

[NJBlackBerry]

RIM support is wrong. Cingular is right. If you put in a foreign (non Cingular) SIM card, most likely you will have only voice and SMS. Not data. You would need to get a SIM card provisioned by the local carrier for BlackBerry Data Service - and that is not easy. Stated another way, very hard. Swapping the SIM card is fairly easy - pop out the battery and it is behind there.

Might I suggest that the customer carry an inexpensive, unlocked quad band GSM phone and use that with a local SIM card, and NOT use the BB for calls when outside of the US if roaming charges are an issue.

[serpico]

Alternatively, carry 1 phone and 2 sim cards. Use the Cingular SIM for data and calls back to the US. When the guy needs to make a local call, pop in the local carrier's SIM (slight hassle b/c have to wait for BB to boot up, but if he's not making lots of local calls it might be acceptable).

[keithc]

FWIW, I use Cingular and bought the WW plan before I left. I never changed the SIM card or anything. I pay a set fee per month and get their lowest rate for all calls, depending on calling country. I am mostly in the major EU countries. I just call up a week before I go and get the plan changed based on my destination. Data prices totally suck if you are based in the US, period. It may be worse somewhere, but it's still StoneAge pricing. I don't use my normal data apps and try to use my BB as phone only. I am on a BES and my normal Email charges seem to be low. When I go overseas, at least the company pays if it's at all reasonable. YMMV.