If you don't have a data plan, Beejive isn't going to work.
he has verizon. as such, he probably has a BIS plan since verizon wont sell you a blackberry without BIS or BES unlike T-Mobile.
and i do have an unlimited text plan as well as beejive. it works much faster and more consistently with less chance of dropped or delayed messages since it uses the data network instead. especially considering i get into some very intense, work related conversations on Live Messenger and also utilize the group chat function to address teams as well as communicate with google talk members, it's more functional for me and worth the money for beejive.