[bigbadben10]

Hi All,

I would like to purchase a pre-paid sim card with 500mb data (30 euros) from Orange in France as I will not always have wi-fi available to me. Having a local French number will also be useful.

I want to confirm that simply installing this pre-paid sim card will provide the services that I need and that my BB 9700 (Bell Mobility) will be able to bridge to my Playbook etc and enable me to check emails for my business.

If anybody has first hand experience with this it would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Ben

[raino]

You should get a local number when you purchase a local SIM. That's been my experience in Asia and North America, at least.

To maintain smooth functionality that you get on your Bell plan (hopefully ), make sure you purchase a 500mb BIS plan. Some countries/carriers actually differentiate between BIS and non-BIS plans, so make sure you're not getting generic data.

Edit: you'll also need to have your phone unlocked for it to be able to accept a non-Bell SIM.

[bigbadben10]

Thanks Raino, yeah Bell wants $75 to unlock my phone. When I looked at my options, I can get a pay as you go BB phone with 500mb data for about 75 euros. I might as well go this way rather than pay the unlocking fee plus a pay as you go sim card from Orange.

[raino]

$75 to unlock a phone?

I don't know which city you're in, but a friend of mine in Toronto had his unlocked for $10. There are unlockers here on the forums as well.

If you're feeling brave, there's this app that supposedly unlocks your phone as well, I think for free.

Anyway, my point is, this shouldn't have to pay Bell or anyone $75 to unlock a phone.

[Jake90087]

Google for it. There are many services that will do it for cheaper than $75. Adam has a guide up on the CrackBerry YouTube Channel.

Unlock Blackberry Instantly! - How to Unlock Blackberry by Unlock Code - Blackberry Unlock <-- Unlock site
<-- Adam's guide.
Remember to follow these carefully and you will be all good. As others said make sure it is a BIS SIM. I used to do this but my carrier charges �3 per day to use my plan in Europe so I do that now. Then I keep my number which is useful.

[raino]

One more thing. 9700 is an old device, are you out of contract, by any chance? Here in the US, carriers easily give you the unlock code once you've fulfilled your contract. Maybe some Canadian users could chime in on how it is up North.

[bigbadben10]

Google for it. There are many services that will do it for cheaper than $75. Adam has a guide up on the CrackBerry YouTube Channel.

Unlock Blackberry Instantly! - How to Unlock Blackberry by Unlock Code - Blackberry Unlock <-- Unlock site
<-- Adam's guide.
Remember to follow these carefully and you will be all good. As others said make sure it is a BIS SIM. I used to do this but my carrier charges �3 per day to use my plan in Europe so I do that now. Then I keep my number which is useful.

Hey Jake,

I followed your recommendations and entered the code I received from cellunlocker. My phone accepted the new code. How can you tell if the phone is unlocked?

So now that I have done this I can simply buy a BIS SIM card from Orange in France, install it in my 9700 and I will be good to go? No need to call Bell etc?

Thanks all for your help, you guy's are awesome! Glad to be a member of this great community.

Ben

[bigbadben10]

One more thing. 9700 is an old device, are you out of contract, by any chance? Here in the US, carriers easily give you the unlock code once you've fulfilled your contract. Maybe some Canadian users could chime in on how it is up North.

Yaa, she is an old beast but still going strong under contract, waiting for BB10 to drop

[raino]

How can you tell if the phone is unlocked?

Go back to the SIM card menu, and if your phone says 'Network Disabled', your phone is unlocked. The other way to check would be to put in another carrier's SIM.

So now that I have done this I can simply buy a BIS SIM card from Orange in France, install it in my 9700 and I will be good to go? No need to call Bell etc?

That's correct. Once you've confirmed your phone is unlocked, there's no need to contact Bell. Your phone should be good to go.

[bigbadben10]

Go back to the SIM card menu, and if your phone says 'Network Disabled', your phone is unlocked. The other way to check would be to put in another carrier's SIM.



That's correct. Once you've confirmed your phone is unlocked, there's no need to contact Bell. Your phone should be good to go.

The only one that is still active is: Service Provider "active". The rest are disabled.

Is this OK?

Cheers, and sorry for asking all the dumb questions....lol

[raino]

One only one that is still active is: Service Provider "active". The rest are disabled.

This means you have a service provider lock. Did you get a MEP4 code as well? You're going to need that here.

[bigbadben10]

Figured it out Raino, all disabled now...cheers!

[bigbadben10]

Follow-up to BIS in France, Switzerland. BIS is not available on a pre-paid sim card only by contract. I tried many Orange, and SFR stores in these countries and all said the same thing.

[VerryBestr]

Perhaps you should contact Chris Umiastowski, who posts stock talk stuff here on CrackBerry. He spent part of last summer (2011) in southern France. You could contact him via his blog,
| Chris Umiastowski's Blog

Here is one of his blog posts about connecting in France:
| Connecting in France

Depending on where you will be and who will be accompanying you, perhaps you would be interested in reading his wife's blog about their experiences ... ask him for the URL.

[crackcookie]

Hi All,

I would like to purchase a pre-paid sim card with 500mb data (30 euros) from Orange in France as I will not always have wi-fi available to me. Having a local French number will also be useful.

I want to confirm that simply installing this pre-paid sim card will provide the services that I need and that my BB 9700 (Bell Mobility) will be able to bridge to my Playbook etc and enable me to check emails for my business.

If anybody has first hand experience with this it would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Ben

IF your phone is already linked to your PB, it won't matter what carrier you have. you can buy prepaid sim cards from different sizes, 5-100 euros. Why do you want to use Orange, you can use any SIM company, is there something specific you want? But yes, unlock your phone before you travel, for $10 at the most, anything more than that is a rip off