1. Reed McLay's Avatar
    As many of you know, using a BlackBerry device in Canada costs a fortune. Data charges are the highest in the World, $10.00 per Mb.

    The Canadian carriers operate within rules established by the CRTC, a government agency charged with protecting our interests. That governs who can operate and what they can charge for access. System access fees are another sore point, $6.95 a month just because they can. That is a classic bait and switch scam being challenged by a class action lawsuit.

    My hopes that a reasonable solution could be found when Rogers, the monopoly carrier, introduced Wi-Fi enabled phone service. That would address the high data cost issue and put us on a competitive playing field with our international competitors.

    Much to my disappointment, Roger has chosen an implementation that is useless to a BlackBerry, voice only, no data. Data is charged at the regular $10 Mb rate.
    I flatly refuse to sign a two or three year contract under those conditions.

    That brings me to my point....

    Have opened negotiations with a potential American business partner. There would be no capital investment. I am looking to invest in a private company with the stated goal of "Fostering International Communications". In practice, it could mean a simple investment in an existing company or creating one for the purpose.

    What is in it for me?

    T-Mobile Business Communications will conduct a credit check and be the selected communications provider. As a stakeholder, I would be able to configure my phone for UMA service.

    That means, when BIS (or hosted BES) sends mail, the data is unlimited.

    It also means unlimited calling in the US and a very favorable international rate for calls back to Canada.

    Unfortunate, anybody in Canada that wishes to call me, would have to place an international call. International calling cards are cheap, nearly everybody uses them anyway.

    What is in it for an American partner?

    Instead of the Canadian style mandatory system access fee, I would prefer an annual stipend of $100, reasonable for the fantastic access this offers.

    This could develop into a profitable sideline. I am not the only Canadian business person choked by high data rates.

    Intentionally buried in Off Topic.

    My PM box is open.
    Last edited by Stoner; 05-22-08 at 05:23 PM.
    05-21-08 12:42 PM
  2. Reed McLay's Avatar
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    Whether you have one employee or thousands, T-Mobile has plans that suit your business needs.

    ...

    Small Business 1000 - $69.99

    Get more time to build your business with up to 4,500 Whenever Minutes�, unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling, features like Enhanced VoiceMail and Built-in Paging, and no roaming or long distance charges. You get two lines, plus up to three more lines at just $9.99 each.

    ...
    Discounted long distance to Canada

    You're already calling your friends and associates in Canada--now you can make all the calls you want and save. For $4.99 per month, you can make unlimited calls to Canada from the US for just $0.09 per minute.
    ...

    ...

    BlackBerry Unlimited - $39.99
    Technology should not tie you down. Let your personal e-mail messages come to you, so you can get more from life. And voice calls are only $0.20 a minute.


    ...

    HotSpot - $9.95
    Make unlimited connections with unlimited Internet and T-Mobile HotSpot access for your laptop. T-Mobile HotSpots are conveniently located nationwide at Starbucks coffeehouses, FedEx Kinko's Office and Print Centers, and numerous airports.
    The Small Business 1000 plan plus 3 additional lines, Hotspot and LD Discount to Canada = $115 per month, other line items and taxes will make $120 a reasonable estimate. Shared by 5 users, $24 each.

    The BlackBerry Unlimited package is the full featured BIS implementation for $40. Unlimited makes this an extremely attractive option.

    The key requirement is Wifi access, at home, in the workplace and while traveling. This will be less practical for a mobile user, because of the extremely high data roaming rates. Installing a local SIM card would mean mean National Voice while mobile and International Voice when UMA is active.

    And did I mention? Bold is coming to T-Mobile this Quarter.

    Edit: Discussion with a potential business partner ended when we realized, there is no way to enforce an International contract. Without that, there is no point in the exercise.

    A pipe dream, never going to happen.
    Last edited by Stoner; 05-23-08 at 10:22 AM.
    05-21-08 01:43 PM
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