My Experience using the Storm in Peru and Argentina

I recently traveled to several cities in Argentina and Peru with the Storm. Overall, my experience was great.

Switching to the international data plan with Verizon was simple. Less than a week before my trip, I called Verizon to inform them of my travels. They transferred me over quickly to some sort of Blackberry international specialist. I forgot the exact title of this individual. This specialist asked me several questions regarding the countries I was traveling to and the dates of my vacation. After these inquiries, she informed me of my options. Pretty much, I was just switching to the international data plan and I would have to pay roaming charges if I used any minutes. I basically set it up to where the international data plan would only be in effect for the dates of my travel and when I got back to the US, my plan would be switched to the regular plan automatically. She told me right away what my prorated charges should be also. It was a very simply and quick experience to set my Storm up.

As far as actual use in Argentina and Peru, 90% of the time, I was on an EDGE network with good speeds. The only city I didn�t have at least decent reception was in El Calafate, Argentina. The other cities I visited (Ushuaia, Iguazu, Buenos Aires, Cusco, Lima) had almost full service on the country�s EDGE network.

I�m not sure what else anyone wants to know but if there are any questions, feel free to drop them and I�ll see if I can provide an answer.

Thanks for the info. Glad to hear the international data plan worked out well. I assume you used the SIM that came with the phone. Did you get a chance to try a local SIM card to make voice calls?

What services did you use on your phone? E-mail? Internet? IM? BB Messenger? Streaming Media?

I'll be going to Italy soon and want to use the Verizon data plan so I have full functionality I have now for data and will buy a local SIM for voice. Did you do this? More details on your data usage would be greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by warp929

Thanks for the info. Glad to hear the international data plan worked out well. I assume you used the SIM that came with the phone. Did you get a chance to try a local SIM card to make voice calls?

Nah I didnt get a chance to do that...nor did I want the hassle of switching back and forth between the pre-installed SIM card and the voice SIM card...no one that important I had to talk to ha

Originally Posted by WERA_Cannoli

What services did you use on your phone? E-mail? Internet? IM? BB Messenger? Streaming Media?

I'll be going to Italy soon and want to use the Verizon data plan so I have full functionality I have now for data and will buy a local SIM for voice. Did you do this? More details on your data usage would be greatly appreciated.

I pretty much used all the features on the phone that I normally use e.g. internet, AIM, TwitterBerry, Email, Youtube App, etc.

I wasnt able to use Flycast though...not sure how Slacker or any other radio would work...but for the other apps, speeds were pretty much spot on...where in Italy are you headed to?...I say if its in the major cities, you should be good...if you go into the mountains or more rural areas like I did at times, your reception might not be as good, if you get any at all

hmmm .. good to know. thanks ... will be doing lotta travelling this year (Lord willing) .

oh yeah .. 1 more thing ... i wanna see some pics from your trip .. hehehehe.

Sorry, the only way you can see that is on Facebook lol

Thanks for the above information.
My daughter will be going to Argentina with her Storm in a few weeks and will be staying for about six weeks. I just talked to Verizon and they activated the sim card. I was told the cost for calls from there would be $4.99 a minute. When I goggled for info I found a number of companies selling prepaid sim cards for Argentina. Would those cards work in the Storm? I think it would be a lot cheaper especially because she likes to talk a lot

Hey, thanks for that info. I am going to Aruba next week. If you don't mind me asking, what was the rate to have data enabled abroad?

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Horsebiz, yes, prepaid sims should work, likely she will not get data though. Why would the rate be so high? I'm on T-mobile and it was only about $1.49/min when I was in Argentina in '07. Call VZW and check what they say.

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I just checked and they said it was $4.99 a minute. I just checked AT&T there rate is either $2.29 or $1.99. depending on plan
I have had the Storm for just 25 days. I am now thinking about returning it to Verizon before my 30 days are up.

I am in the same place as horsebiz/WERA_Cannoli. I will be leaving to Italy in 2 months and I have been looking at all of the possibilities with international service. I am almost certain that I will end up with the Storm, but I am not sure if I want to only because of the WiFi, I was hoping that Niagra would end up with WiFi - damn Verizon. Only blaming Verizon because I have heard that in the original models WiFi was enabled, never mind if its not true.

The provider thing also has me split. I don't know if I want to stay with Verizon, or move to another US carrier, or just get my phone unlocked and then go out of the country and get a SIM card over there. Decisions, decisions.

I am also interested in the data plan. Ming-Tzu, how much did it come out for you and how many days were you away?

I also traveled to Buenos Aires and San Antonio de Areco in Argentina as well as Colonia in Uruguay. Had great coverage thru Claro on the EDGE network. I used the data plan from Verizon which works out to about 17 dollars per week. If you sign up for the month of coverage and then cancel upon your return, you will only be charged for the period that you used it. Check out WorldMate it is a wonderful travel tool and they give you a one week trial for Gold (pay) version which gives you access to hotel and airline reservations. Regular edition has weather and travel itinerary with reminders as well as currency conversion.

17 bucks per week, just for data, and how long ago? How much did u pay for talking/voice per week?

The data plan is not bad. They charge domestically about $30.00 a month and to do to their global plan it is about $69.00 minus the $30.00 you already pay. So it is only an increase of $39 for the month and they do pro rate.
I do find the $5 a minute for voice high compared to other companies. I have been with Verizon since they split and here in Boston Ma they have a much better network than AT&T, that is one reason I went for the Storm over the Iphone. The other reason is I got two Storms for about $49
I will have to learn more about the sim and see if my daughter can install it when she gets to Argentina

very cool, glad to hear the support is user friendly.

Originally Posted by nemo-maritime

17 bucks per week, just for data, and how long ago? How much did u pay for talking/voice per week?

It was 68 for the month total prorated. Calls were 4.99/minute and I avoided calls like the plague! Get a local sim card if you intend to do a lot of calling. Claro seems to be the largest of the local network providers. I would check with them for costs. I was in Argentina the last week of January.

Originally Posted by startsev

It was 68 for the month total prorated. Calls were 4.99/minute and I avoided calls like the plague! Get a local sim card if you intend to do a lot of calling. Claro seems to be the largest of the local network providers. I would check with them for costs. I was in Argentina the last week of January.

Thanks. I was thinking about the call thing. I'm planning on using the data then, but also using the Skype app for my BB, if it works, but I'm also going to be bringing a WM phone as a backup. This way I should be connected better, globally, and cheaper. Will still probably get a SIM card for the local calls.

They should work - just make sure you call and have VZW unlock her phone. This is a simple process: http://forums.crackberry.com/f86/how...k-code-101858/

Originally Posted by horsebiz

Thanks for the above information.
My daughter will be going to Argentina with her Storm in a few weeks and will be staying for about six weeks. I just talked to Verizon and they activated the sim card. I was told the cost for calls from there would be $4.99 a minute. When I goggled for info I found a number of companies selling prepaid sim cards for Argentina. Would those cards work in the Storm? I think it would be a lot cheaper especially because she likes to talk a lot

Originally Posted by bbsean

They should work - just make sure you call and have VZW unlock her phone. This is a simple process:

I called Verizon and they unlocked both of my Storms. The customer service person was very nice and even commented on the $4.99 a minute charge. She did say that it was easy to change the sims and suggested that my daughter still use the Verizon sim and their plan for Data. I have been trying to take my sim out but I am afraid to force it ans harm it. I will go to a Verizon store and ask them to show me how to remove it.

Sweet, I'm going to HK soon.

Planning on unlocking my phone, using a prepaid SIM from HK, and then just living without data during my weeklong trip.

I don't feel like paying VZW's international rates.

Use a pencil eraser to push the sim card out. The first time for me it was a bit sticky. Used the unlocked storm in both South Africa and Namibia with local sim cards. no problems, and much cheaper than $5 per minute. Did not use a data plan though.

I'm presuming that the Tour (9630) and the Storm (9530) will work in exactly the same way when it comes to international data plan access. Based on that presumption, I'm interested in knowing anything that anyone could share about being able to browse the web and access email while within the city limits of Cuzco / Cusco.

I'm going to suspend the voice plan and bump the unlimited data plan to the international unlimited data for a three-week stint within Cuzco. Verizon was not able to tell me whether or not there is data coverage there. They pointed me to the Claro site (which seems to be in Spanish only). Other posts that I found from as recently as late 2007 said there were no data services available for a phone like the 8830 World Edition (which is not quad-band like the Storm and Tour).

If anyone has input they can share, I sure would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by meburdick

I'm presuming that the Tour (9630) and the Storm (9530) will work in exactly the same way when it comes to international data plan access. Based on that presumption, I'm interested in knowing anything that anyone could share about being able to browse the web and access email while within the city limits of Cuzco / Cusco.

I'm going to suspend the voice plan and bump the unlimited data plan to the international unlimited data for a three-week stint within Cuzco. Verizon was not able to tell me whether or not there is data coverage there. They pointed me to the Claro site (which seems to be in Spanish only). Other posts that I found from as recently as late 2007 said there were no data services available for a phone like the 8830 World Edition (which is not quad-band like the Storm and Tour).

If anyone has input they can share, I sure would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

If you go back to the first post in this thread you will see that there was coverage in Cuzco. I did not personally go there. The Tour should have the same coverage as the Storm.

Originally Posted by startsev

If you go back to the first post in this thread you will see that there was coverage in Cuzco. I did not personally go there. The Tour should have the same coverage as the Storm.

I realize that the original post did have information regarding there being coverage in Cuzco. However, the OP did not indicate that they suspended their voice plan and had only data. And, that's specifically what I'm trying to get details about.