BIS not working on South African GSM network

**Brandon Crichton** · 12-09-2012, 01:56 PM

Hi, I recently bought an unlocked Sprint Blackberry 9930 from New York whilst on holiday. I live in South Africa where where GSM networks , I put my sim with data activated into my new phone and i can make calls and send texts but cannot get the BIS data working on the phone. I have done some research and have been advised to request Sprint to release my BB Pin in order for the GSM data to start working in South Africa.

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Brandon C

**SwitchBeach** · 12-09-2012, 02:34 PM

The problem is likely not that the device is still active on Sprint, but rather that your service provider does not support that device natively so you do not have the proper Service Books on the device. You will need to manually load them. Either you need to bring them over from a previous BlackBerry device that you might have had or see if they are available on the internet for download.

If you can't load the Service Books, then you will not get the BIS data working. And in that instance, you will need to get a device that is supported by your service provider.

**Brandon Crichton** · 12-09-2012, 11:16 PM

Thanks for your help, I have already tried a device switch but that was unsuccessful.

How do I manually load the service books ?

Where would I find the South African Vodacom service books online ?

Thanks

**SwitchBeach** · 12-10-2012, 05:58 AM

Originally Posted by Brandon Crichton

Thanks for your help, I have already tried a device switch but that was unsuccessful.

A simple device switch is not the same as extracting the Service Book and loading them to a different device.

How do I manually load the service books ?

Here are the steps for TMobile. How to activate all the features on a unlocked blackberry 9930 bold for tmobile

Where would I find the South African Vodacom service books online ?

No idea. They probably are not available.

**_Zodiac_** · 12-10-2012, 08:47 AM

As far as I know, a 9930 will not work on SA's networks because it is made for CDMA networks and we have GSM networks in SA.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk