Italian newbie needs help with BB BIS in the UK!

[mrsbeauregarde]

Hello everyone,
my name is Chiara and I'm an Italian postgraduate student. I'll be in London for the whole month of July and I need some advice for my Blackberry.
I just got myself an used (and, obviously, completely unlocked) Blackberry 8520 and I'd like to take it with me in London. As I just said, the phone is completely unlocked. I haven't activated the BIS (blackberry internet service) with an Italian operator, as I wanted to purchase a british SIM in the UK and to activate the BIS directly on it.

I saw a "free Blackberry SIM" promo on the t-Mobile UK website. It seems brilliant, but I have some questions.

- Can I get the free sim even in a t-Mobile store, or i MUST have it shipped in my post?
- I'd prefer a Pay as you go plan. With the free Blackberry SIM, will I have free BIS even if I purchase a Pay as you go plan and I use it for just a month?
- Of course I guess I'll need to unlock my BB from the t-Mobile BIS in order to be able to activate the Internet Service when I'll come back to Italy. How do I do that? Is it a long procedure?

I hope I was clear. I apologize for my clumsy, stiff English!

Chiara

[GenusRubus]

Hi Chiara,

I'm sure that the T-mo guys will be able to supply you with the sim in store, provided you meet the criteria to be signed up.
Unfortunately I have heard of people having trouble with billing addresses when not a permanent resident in the UK though....so I hope that this isn't the case with you.

If you fail at T-mo you should try O2, who I know for sure also offer a 'Simplicity' BlackBerry tariff which is a one month contract (you could just cancel when you return to Italy).
Maybe Orange do something similar too?!

Don't just buy a standard PAYG sim...you'll need a BIS plan/bolt-on, so make sure its supported first.

In order to remove the device's PIN from whichever UK provider's BIS you choose, it's as simple as either talking to customer services, or using their BIS website and removing your account.

Hope that helps a bit, and that you enjoy London!

I'm sure others will chime with info too if I've missed anything.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[mrsbeauregarde]

GenusRebus, thank you so much!
I will need a billing address even if I choose a Pay as you go plan? I'm actually stunned, here in Italy you DON'T need it unless you're on a Pay Monthly plan. You just need to give out your personal data (name, address, DOB, ID, etc) in order to obtain a SIM.
However, I've rented a room in a regular apartment. Would it be OK as a billing address?
I'm also relieved to know that unlocking a BB from an UK carrier is a quick procedure. Here in Italy it is actually quite long and tricky. It took a whole week for a friend of mine to successfully unlock her Blackberry from Telecom Italia Mobile, that's why I was afraid about unlocking the phone after just a month!

[GenusRubus]

I'm really not certain how it works on PAYG I'm afraid, having never used it, but just thought that the BIS aspect of the tariff may be a sticking point as it's a tad more of an 'agreement' than just topping-up for use on calls and texts.

I may be completely wrong....I hope for your sake I am.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com