1. crashtestporcelain's Avatar
    First of all, hello to everyone on the Forums =)

    I've been reading a lot of forum posts, but I couldn't find an exact answer to my question, so here it goes: I have recently purchased a BlackBerry Curve 8300 Firsthand at an amazing bargain price and would like to use it in Winnipeg - where I'll be moving to in a week or two. Now I've never been to Canada - or for that matter - any country where the user gets tied into a contract with the phone company ( let me tell you phone companies in North America are really screwing customers, it's amazing not be tied down to a service ) , so what I'd like to ask is:

    1.If I bring my own BlackBerry along - how much would it cost to get my BlackBerry activated - with at least a voice plan ( Or am I basically screwed because I own the BlackBerry and didn't purchase it from them? )

    2.Can I get an unlimited data plan like the Telus $15 promotion? (The 8300 doesn't have WiFi =( , so I'll be dependent on Edge for email )
    03-27-08 12:30 AM
  2. Duvi's Avatar
    Does telus not operate in Winnipeg?
    03-27-08 12:38 AM
  3. crashtestporcelain's Avatar
    Well, I wouldn't know. I was taking the example of Telus' $15 Plan - and wondering whether I could get a plan like that on the BlackBerry I already own ( from any company ) or whether I would be penalized for not buying the 8300 from them and have to cough up more than what other people pay for the data plan.
    03-27-08 12:50 AM
  4. aizecarla's Avatar
    telus is CDMA so if you want to get service from them, you cant use your own curve. the 8330 is coming to telus tho.

    only way you can use your curve if its unlocked, is to get a line at rogers and a data plan. here's the thing, data plan here sucks big time lol you can go to their website and look at the bb flex plans
    Last edited by aizecarla; 03-27-08 at 06:09 PM.
    03-27-08 05:57 PM
  5. aizecarla's Avatar
    as for the price, they have that $10 megatime plan at rogers. (i have this one lol)

    you get:
    250 weekdays
    unlimited rogers to rogers/rogers to fido
    unlimited evenings and weekends (i think its from 6pm)
    call forwarding

    i think thats about it, then just add a data plan. prices are at their website
    03-27-08 06:00 PM
  6. Hazysky's Avatar
    Is your BB unlocked?
    03-27-08 06:03 PM
  7. Raiders's Avatar
    Just keep in mind that you will be quite cold in Winnipeg. Make sure have a decent case/skin on your BB. Telus operates across Canada. But it operates on CDMA not GSM. There are no sim cards in CDMA devices.

    Best to hang on with what you have and then when the Curve comes to Telus in the next month or so then pick one up. Make sure you talk to a rep that really knows what they are talking about whe it comes to Data Plans.
    03-27-08 06:11 PM
  8. crashtestporcelain's Avatar
    Carla:
    Thanks for the info! I didn't know Telus was CDMA. Which is sort of depressing, because I was looking forward to a $15 data plan. I went to the Rogers website and I found the Megatime plan - but after I pick the plan - I get a Pick Your Phone screen - and there's no option for people who already have a phone but just want a new connection.

    I'm sorry, but where I come from - everyone buys there own phone straight from the market and then pick their service provider - so this is all very confusing to me. I can't find an option on Rogers for people who already have the phone. Could somebody explain this to me? I have no idea how the business model in North America works.

    And yes, Hazysky, my phone is unlocked. They don't lock phones in the first place, here! We just buy the phone we want from an electronics shop which has no tie ups with the Telecom companies, and then we're free to choose whichever company we want to connect with.
    03-27-08 11:23 PM
  9. aizecarla's Avatar
    There's no option for people who have phones already. You have to get a phone in order to get a line. Im not sure about this but your best option would be to go to a Rogers outlet once you move to Winnipeg and ask them about it.

    First time i got a line from them, i already had a phone i wanted to use, but what i did was i just picked the phone that didnt cost anything, let them set up my line with that phone, then i changed phones when i got home. The phone from Rogers, i just put it aside in a drawer lol

    But yea, best option would be to set up your line once you move here so that you can actually talk to a Rogers rep
    03-27-08 11:51 PM
  10. crashtestporcelain's Avatar
    =( That's sucky.

    But at least the work around solution is easy. So I just get a new phone, switch the SIMcard onto the BlackBerry and I'm good to go? I wonder what will happen when I activate the Data Plan later and ask them for BB email configuration details - won't they refuse since I'm supposed to be using the phone they gave me?


    And thanks again This is starting to make sense.
    03-28-08 12:03 AM
  11. aizecarla's Avatar
    Thats the thing, if your phone is fully unlocked, it should be easy. For the data plan i mean.

    They wont refuse dont worry.

    Again, best solution is talk to a Rogers rep. Call them or something lol. Dont fully trust my words since ive only had a line with them for about 5 months lol
    03-28-08 12:19 AM
  12. aizecarla's Avatar
    Oh and i think they dont offer the $10 plan in the website, i think you saw the mega value plan or something. Not sure if they still offer it.
    03-28-08 12:21 AM
  13. crashtestporcelain's Avatar
    It's still there on their website, I think this is the same thing: applicant.ca/personal-plans-manitoba-c-79_39_68.html

    The phone is fully unlocked. Like I said, there's no such thing as Locking Phones where I'm from. The concept just doesn't exist with phone companies here. You have more freedom of choice in Asia. It encourages healthy competition that gives us rock bottom call rates - example (not kidding!):

    > 100 Free SMS per day ( CAN$ 0.0038 for every additional SMS after that )
    > Per 60 second Call CAN$ 0.05128 ( and we also have the same kind of offers from companies wherein you can call for free between certain hours to phones from the same carrier )
    > We get charged per Kb of Data CAN$ 0.0657 per Mb
    > Blackberry plan with Unlimited Data is CAN$ 23 per month!

    So I'll have to start getting used to using the phone less and watching the bill more! :P
    03-28-08 12:47 AM
  14. crackvegas78's Avatar
    It's still there on their website, I think this is the same thing: applicant.ca/personal-plans-manitoba-c-79_39_68.html

    The phone is fully unlocked. Like I said, there's no such thing as Locking Phones where I'm from. The concept just doesn't exist with phone companies here. You have more freedom of choice in Asia. It encourages healthy competition that gives us rock bottom call rates - example (not kidding!):

    > 100 Free SMS per day ( CAN$ 0.0038 for every additional SMS after that )
    > Per 60 second Call CAN$ 0.05128 ( and we also have the same kind of offers from companies wherein you can call for free between certain hours to phones from the same carrier )
    > We get charged per Kb of Data CAN$ 0.0657 per Mb
    > Blackberry plan with Unlimited Data is CAN$ 23 per month!

    So I'll have to start getting used to using the phone less and watching the bill more! :P

    Speaking from an American point of view. The plans in CA are jacked up. I pay about 140 or so a month and really never worry about mins,data or text. I get 1600 anytime night and weekend rollover and unlimited data and text.
    03-28-08 12:54 AM
  15. crashtestporcelain's Avatar
    Yeah, but I can understand why it's higher in Canada. Basically, the more customers a Phone Company gets - the lower it can bring it's prices.When you have a lot of customers you can afford to bring prices down because even if they make very little profit per customer - they still rake in a lot of money because there's so many customers.

    Sort of like saying if I sold you something for 10 cents I wouldn't make a lot of money, but if I sold a 10,000 people the same thing for 10 cents - I'd make a lot of money.

    In Canada, the population density is very low - so they can't have that sort of business - the only way they can make money is sell their product for a higher price to fewer people.

    Plus, Canadian weather must demand a much higher cost to maintain cell phone towers, I think.
    03-28-08 01:02 AM
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