Purchasing a Unlocked Blackberry; I'm On Bell?

Hello.
This is my first post here, but I've been a lurker for quite a while now. :p
I know there are probably a zillion topics on this; however I think my problem is a little unique, I will explain.

I'm a resident of Canada; currently on a three year plan with Bell. I've got a Blackberry Pearl.. however I am wanting an upgrade - I never thought I'd enjoy the blackberry brand so much.

My current service provider however only offers the Pearl, Flip, Curve and Touch Screen. However I have had my eye on the Blackberry Bold for MONTHS now. My only alternative that I can see is to purchase a Unlocked Blackberry Bold online (threw eBay or something.)

This is where I am having difficulties. I've read a few things - and they're all contradictory to each other.. but I am unsure that if I even buy an unlocked phone.. that I would be able to use it..

I guess Bell operates its phones differently.. something about CDMA that I've been reading, and you'd need to know someone that could crack the phone (However I guess that may only apply if you wanted to unlock a Bell Phone to use on another provider).

Here are my questions I guess, if someone could help me out, I'd love them forever!

- Can I purchase any unlocked Blackberry Bold from any provider, and just input my Blackberry SIM Card to use it?

- If I bought one online and it comes in the mail; what steps are needed to make it work?

- Is everything functional with a Unlocked Blackberry (ie. BBM, Email).

- I'm assuming that I would get a new PIN (because its unique to the phone) but I can keep my old number (by putting it into the phone) right?

- Roaming? Will my service provider KNOW that I've purchased a new Blackberry? Will they charge me more monthly?

As you can tell, I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to this topic.. so any help/input would be helpful. THANKS SO MUCH GUYS. :D

Welcome to BlackBerry diskonect.

The Bold is the first of the Next Generation BlackBerry, but it is only available to GSM technology carriers. In Canada, that means Rogers/Fido.

Your carrier, Bell Mobility and Telus use the compeating CDMA technology.

Unfortunalty, that means it is not possible to opperate a Bold on Bell/Telus.

The good news is, the CDMA carriers will soon be making their next geneation BlackBerry available. The device code named Niagara and now known as Tour, should do the trick.

Excellent.
Sad news for me; hopefully I could get out of this plan.. and goto Rogers.. or wait for the Tour.. if Bell gets it (hopefully we get an ETA on that soon)

Thanks so much for your help!

The other CDMA issue you have to face is the registration. ESN/MEID numbers are registered into the carrier's database when deliered from the manufacturer. It's very hard to get a phone that is registered with one CDMA carrier to get added to another carrier's database. Most carriers won't even attempt it.

Make sure that if you get a DCMA BB from an outside source, it is registered to your carrier. You can usually request the ESN/MEID and call the carrier to verify.