No. BBMessenger uses data as the medium. You can use SMS if one or the other of you doesn't have a data plan, or if your friend is not a BlackBerry user. BBMessenger works between BlackBerries only.
Haha, yeah, when he gets raped in data charges! I have heard something about people turnng on data, then turning it off a day later and they are still able to use everything. Guessing that is what he is refering to.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com