[hanni__bunny]

Hello everyone,

As I am travelling around the world over the next years I am trying to find a solution for my bb.

Is there anyone who can reccommend kind of international/global simcard which would allow me not only to make and receive cheaper international calls or texts but also - most important - use the blackberry services around the world??

I am tired of changing my number every few months and install all services again...

I would be very grateful for any suggestion.

Thank you in advance and best regards,
Johanna

[blackberry-unlocking710]

I depends on the area you are traveling in...
Unlocked Blackberry allows you to switch sim cards and yes it's involves changing the phone number and setting the phone for the services but, using pre-paid local SIM cards is one of the cheapest ways to use your unlocked Blackberry in different countries... there are international SIM cards for areas like Europe, North America, Caribbeans and such but it's not cheap as the local sim cards.

Also, most of them do not have a Blackberry Data plan included.
The problem is with the carriers that are using different rules on each area to get services and you there is no cheap solution to keep you phone number.

But, you can use some online service to redirect calls and buy a "satellite phone number" that will transfer calls to your phone number and on some services you can always add those settings so you can the calls to the SIM card you are using by one number that you can set online.
But i'm not sure if this is the type of solution that you are looking for because the Data issue will not be solved that way... but it's something you may want to think about.

[sjsplaty]

that is a tough question to answer. Where is your home country? Where will you be calling the most? That will have a lot to do with it. For instance, if your home is the US, and you are going to make most of your calls to the US, I would recommend you get a T-Mobile BB 9780, which will have UMA, and will allow you to make free calls back to the US anytime you have a wifi signal. You can add a discounted international calling plan for $5/mo and then, again using your UMA connection, can call anywhere in the world at discounted rates. Finally, they have an international BB addon for $19.95/mo. This gives you unlimited BB email roaming around the world. Of course, if you don't have wifi, or the US isn't your home, then this solution will not work for you. And if you are using the cellular signal instead of wifi, it will be very expensive for calls and data.

[hanni__bunny]

Thank you for your quick replies!

I have a unlocked BB Bold 9780 and my home country is Germany. The last half year I have been working in Mauritius (Indian Ocean) and the coming 5 month I am going to Hong Kong. In beetween I have to travel again back to Europe, each time for a couple of days... And again next February I don't know yet where I will be - it could be really in any part of the world, that is the problem.

In Mauritius I had (and I still have) a local prepaid card called Emtel but the roaming is too expensive outside of Mauritius.
In Germany I have a T-Mobile Extra Card (German pepaid card) which does not support bb services at all.
Now in Hong Kong I was searching for the best solution but as I read so far it must be quite challenging as there are no prepaid cards with bb services. I would be also very happy if someone has experience within Asia or especially Hong Kong.

In general so far I did not use wifi but the cellular signal only...

At the moment I have to think about several options:

1. I would really need 1 simcard/number which works around the world including all bb services as many of my business contacts are on my bbm and I need to get in contact with them especially WHEN I am travelling from one destiantion to another. So even if I have for instance another card in Hong Kong, I am looking for a general second card, which I could use anywhere and for which I would not have to pay incredible roaming fees.

2. Even better, it would be of course if I could keep one number but I think this is almost hopeless...

3. I need a solution for Hong Kong. Could not find any national prepaid card with bb services...

Thank you so much for your help!!

[hanni__bunny]

anyone with experience in hong kong?

[mobibiz]

BlackBerry SIM Cards - Recommended. Notable mention by TIME, BBC, Frommers, Reuters, and The Economist. I have not used this but this comes recommended by a friend. Hope this helps.