[Jen81104]

Hi, this is my first post here and I am a new Blackberry user, so please excuse my rather simple question.
I live in the UK, but travel a lot to Spain for a couple of months at a time. I am in Spain now.

I set up a contract with Orange UK for a Blackberry Curve 9300 3G one month ago. It is on their Panther contract. I got the Blackberry from the Carphone Warehouse in the UK as I wanted an unlocked phone.

Carphone Warehouse and Orange Customer Services assured me that I would be able to use my Blackberry in Spain, but, because of roaming charges and as I was a new customer, Orange would not give me roaming access and suggested I buy a Spanish SIM and replace my Orange contract SIM whenever I visit here.
As the phone is unlocked they assured me this wouldn't be a problem.

In my region of Spain I have the choice of Movistar and possibly Vodafone as a PAYG carrier. Both offer Blackberry Data packages.

At the moment I haven't changed the Orange SIM. I have Mobile Services turned off and WiFi turned on, so I cannot make or receive calls or texts, but, as I have access to WiFi here, I still have access to my emails, Facebook, Twitter, and the internet, so I am guessing that BIS (a 5 pound add on as part of my Blackberry contract payment) is still working.

My question is this.

If I purchase a new SIM and replace it in my Blackberry, will I be able to still use BIS via the monthly payment for Blackberry Services I make to Orange? In other words, is my BIS account linked to my phone or to the Orange SIM?
I am guessing that once the SIM is removed, I will no longer have BIS, and will have to ask Orange to give me the release code (to release me temporarily) and then apply for a new BIS service via the Spanish Carrier.
If that's the case, it might just be too much hassle and I would be better off buying a cheap phone for calls in Spain and continuing to use my Blackberry for emails and social networks.

But what also concerns me is that, although I have roaming disabled, the fact I am using my UK paid for BIS in Spain (even though this is via WiFi) may leave me with huge charges on my account.

As you can see, I am rather ignorant of all this. I will call Orange Customer Services UK tomorrow, but really wanted some input on this first, so that I ask the right questions (and also so that I don't lose my Blackberry services whilst I'm here).

Thanks.

[rubiah]

I'm using Orange ES (Orange Spain), and I can assure you they have BIS, you have many other carriers out there that offer it too, including Tuenti, Yoigo, aswell as the two you mentioned, Movistar and Vodafone..

Yeah, Orange do tend to charge disorbitant prices for roaming.. But there's a couple of special tariffs you can get, like roaming data packages.. I highly doubt they'd charge you for using WiFi though.

And finally, no.. I'm pretty sure you could insert any SIM card.. I used my old 8520 on various SIM cards all proving BIS perfectly. (Excluding the ones which I didn't have a data plan on, obviously.)

[Jen81104]

Thanks Rubiah.
Orange isn't available in the area I am staying, otherwise I would have considered them. And on further checking, it seems that the most reliable coverage is offered by Movistar, so I'll be visiting their shop in Carrefour later today.

So, you are saying that I will get the BIS I am signed up for, through Orange UK, with any SIM which has data coverage?
If that's the case, it will be so much easier!

[rubiah]

If it's not too much prying, could I ask more or less where this is? I really never found anywhere yet that Orange has no signal, so a bit curious as to where to avoid, hehe...


Anywho, yeah... Uhm.. Nope.... You'll need to sign up to BIS on your new carrier...


If you want Movistar network, and cheap.. You always got Tuenti, which has free BIS, 1€ max a day in internet costs, 3c a minute flat rate calls and works under the Movistar repeaters.... (I think you need an account with Tuenti 's social network first though, although I'm not sure.. In case you do it's invitation only, but I have a few invitations left so let me know :P )

[Jen81104]

If it's not too much prying, could I ask more or less where this is? I really never found anywhere yet that Orange has no signal, so a bit curious as to where to avoid, hehe...

Granada mountains - and a mountain is blocking our access to all signals apart from to a Movistar transmitter set up at the top of the village. Although Vodafone does show us as being in their 2g-3g region, but Orange shows coverage.

Anywho, yeah... Uhm.. Nope.... You'll need to sign up to BIS on your new carrier...

Thanks.
Ive just confirmed this with Orange customer services too (although I was not convinced that the person I spoke to knew much about Blackberry services as she kept talking about iPhones for some reason!)

If you want Movistar network, and cheap.. You always got Tuenti, which has free BIS, 1€ max a day in internet costs, 3c a minute flat rate calls and works under the Movistar repeaters.... (I think you need an account with Tuenti 's social network first though, although I'm not sure.. In case you do it's invitation only, but I have a few invitations left so let me know :P )

Thanks. I'll check it out.

[Jen81104]

Just to update, I was in Carrefour so spoke to the Movistar rep there.
PAYG contract set up with a new SIM with data plan, new SIM installed and I dialed 1004 to request Blackberry Services turned on.
Rebooted the Blackberry and everything was up and running in minutes!
I did have to re-set up my email accounts (and the Hotmail one is rather slow at the moment), but apart from that everything went incredibly smoothly.