[sarab2]

New to crackberry and found it difficult to sift through all of the posts about using one's blackberry while in Europe, and opinions seemed mostly inconclusive.

I'll be studying in Seville, Spain for 5 or 6 months next semester and am currently researching my options for phone usage. Most people have told me just to buy a phone when I get over there, but I have an internationally capable phone, so I figure I may as well use it.

1. I realize the process of unlocking is simply calling VZW and requesting to do so. However, what needs to be done after? Is there anything I would need to do to make another SIM card work?

2. Are there any successful ways to receive data while in Europe? The verizon fees are absolutely exorbitant, and my dad would not be very keen on paying up to 130 dollars a month JUST for data while i was abroad. I'm finding it difficult to find much info on Spanish SIM cards that offer data in order to come up with a price estimate. I will have a wifi-enabled netbook with me. Would it be best to just rely on that if i need to check my email and such?

3. Any personal recommendations on SIM cards in Spain? Don't know much about them, and they're all seeming quite similar online.

No further questions at the moment, and thanks for any info!

[FF22]

I can only tell you my experience and only for 3 weeks.

I signed up for the GLOBAL Verizon plan. I believe just data is $65/month, phone makes it $70/month. It REPLACES you current BB data plan for the time it is activated. So if you are now paying $30/month, it really is only $40 more per month. That included UNlimited data. Phone calls are still pricy but not as expensive - they are $0.99/minute in/out and to/from the US as well as Europe (if Spain is the same as Italy). You retain your US number so anyone in Europe calling you is calling International. But anyone calling you from the US is calling "local" US number.

Data is otherwise pretty expensive but I don't recall the cents/kilobyte number.

I only have read about foreign sim cards. I believe calls into them are FREE. I don't know rates outbound.

As you have discovered, DATA questions on foreign sim cards are more unknown. So, sorry I cannot help you with info. For my 3 weeks, I thought Global was worth it. We did not make many phone calls and did not have anyone call us.

Have a great trip.

[z06mike]

If you get the unlimited data plan there are apps that will allow to make phone calls over the web for much cheaper. Look for them in the app store.

[ALFIE74]

That's where I am from, Seville and I go there every year and what I do is just get the global plan from vzw and as previously mentioned, it works well for short term. Now my relatives there they have Vodafone and Orange and they change their sim cards from one phone to another with no problem.