[jjgilz]

Hey everyone,

I'm a longtime lurker, first time poster. For months I've been waiting for the Sprint Tour. I'm a pilot and I travel way too much for my job. Up until now, I never had international phone service. When my tour arrived, I initially thought it was the best thing ever. The Sprint rep promised unlimited international data for $40 over my everything plan rate. However, my results from the past week makes me confused in the least and mad at the worst. Here's my story.

Left last week on a 7 day trip to Germany, Crete, Kenya, Thailand, Japan and then back home. When I activated my international plan with customer care, they said that it included unlimited data in any nation that received GPRS, EVDO or EDGE service.

The Good: The data worked great in every country. I got 3G signal everywhere I went. Expecting all data to be included, I used it fairly liberally.

The Bad: No texting anywhere overseas (major part of the reason that I was excited for the international plan), GPS has not worked at all since leaving the US (says cannot find satellites-they're still up there, promise!) and the battery drains faster when on GSM networks (not Sprint's fault there). Oh, and my trackball stinks.

THE UGLY: After getting frustrated about the lack of GPS while trying to use google maps, I called Sprint. They then told me that the reason it doesn't work is because there is no Sprint coverage in Southern Japan and they don't know how I'm getting signal or calling their customer care. According to the rep, she said that the roaming is only valid if they have a contract with that carrier. So if my phone roams to another carrier in that country that they don't have a contract will, I could be responsible for the charges. First of all, how do I control that and know about the many wireless carriers in each country when the Sprint international site is a piece of junk. Secondly, how would I control that with my blackberry settings? Additionally, I was told that the international plan isn't actually unlimited. So the max is 300MB. Ok, that stinks but here's the worst part. I was also told that the international plan only covers 5 countries!!! So any other locations will be the roaming rate of up to $25 per MB! Plus, the bill from the wireless companies could take up to 2 billing cycles to post. She said I could be getting a bill of a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars depending on the amount of data pulls that my BB Tour did. This is in total contrast in what I was originally told by Sprint. Because I specifically asked them about the details of the plan before upgrading to the tour. I said "so if I am in Germany or England or Iraq or Japan or Afghanistan or Peru and I need to access the internet or check my e-mail, I can do it as long as I get a GPRS signal and its included in my intl roaming plan, right?" The answer from the international care line? "YES, that is correct." Woohoo!

What confuses me is that I can't find a straight story online. The Sprint website seems intentionally vague and the google search doesn't provide many up to date links.

So my question to you all is: What is the story here? Does the plan really include unlimited international data roaming to 110 countries? Or is it 5? Is it 300MB or Unlimited? And if the plan is garbage like the customer service agent led me to believe today, does Verizon or ATT have a better plan? Because up until today, I thought Sprint's plan was the most generous and fairly priced plan out there....


Thanks for your help!
jjg

[boomhower1820]

I don't have an answer for you but you have to realize the sales reps are likely very poorly trained on the International pack. They likely think the same as you, international means international. If its not they should have at least sent you some paper work with countries that do work. I have a feeling this is going to get really ugly before all is said and done.

[chesterhound]

jj: I used my 8830 last year with the unlimited data plan. I used it in Germany and The Netherlands. I used it a lot for internet and email. I was not billed any extra charges. I would say Sprint will honor what they promised when you activated the international service. If not, you should definetely call and dispute any charges. I agree with the previous post, many of the customer service reps are ill-informed. To give you an example, I was told that my previous free incoming plan would still be free when I traveled overseas. About a month after I returned, I received a bill for over $600! Of course I called and disputed the charge. They did remove it and warned me in the future that free incoming was only while in the US. And to answer your other question, Sprint has the best deal on international data anywhere. VZW and at&t are more expensive, charging by the kb. Good luck. chesterhound

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[hominid7]

Hey everyone,

I'm a longtime lurker, first time poster. For months I've been waiting for the Sprint Tour. I'm a pilot and I travel way too much for my job. Up until now, I never had international phone service. When my tour arrived, I initially thought it was the best thing ever. The Sprint rep promised unlimited international data for $40 over my everything plan rate. However, my results from the past week makes me confused in the least and mad at the worst. Here's my story.

Left last week on a 7 day trip to Germany, Crete, Kenya, Thailand, Japan and then back home. When I activated my international plan with customer care, they said that it included unlimited data in any nation that received GPRS, EVDO or EDGE service.

The Good: The data worked great in every country. I got 3G signal everywhere I went. Expecting all data to be included, I used it fairly liberally.

The Bad: No texting anywhere overseas (major part of the reason that I was excited for the international plan), GPS has not worked at all since leaving the US (says cannot find satellites-they're still up there, promise!) and the battery drains faster when on GSM networks (not Sprint's fault there). Oh, and my trackball stinks.

THE UGLY: After getting frustrated about the lack of GPS while trying to use google maps, I called Sprint. They then told me that the reason it doesn't work is because there is no Sprint coverage in Southern Japan and they don't know how I'm getting signal or calling their customer care. According to the rep, she said that the roaming is only valid if they have a contract with that carrier. So if my phone roams to another carrier in that country that they don't have a contract will, I could be responsible for the charges. First of all, how do I control that and know about the many wireless carriers in each country when the Sprint international site is a piece of junk. Secondly, how would I control that with my blackberry settings? Additionally, I was told that the international plan isn't actually unlimited. So the max is 300MB. Ok, that stinks but here's the worst part. I was also told that the international plan only covers 5 countries!!! So any other locations will be the roaming rate of up to $25 per MB! Plus, the bill from the wireless companies could take up to 2 billing cycles to post. She said I could be getting a bill of a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars depending on the amount of data pulls that my BB Tour did. This is in total contrast in what I was originally told by Sprint. Because I specifically asked them about the details of the plan before upgrading to the tour. I said "so if I am in Germany or England or Iraq or Japan or Afghanistan or Peru and I need to access the internet or check my e-mail, I can do it as long as I get a GPRS signal and its included in my intl roaming plan, right?" The answer from the international care line? "YES, that is correct." Woohoo!

What confuses me is that I can't find a straight story online. The Sprint website seems intentionally vague and the google search doesn't provide many up to date links.

So my question to you all is: What is the story here? Does the plan really include unlimited international data roaming to 110 countries? Or is it 5? Is it 300MB or Unlimited? And if the plan is garbage like the customer service agent led me to believe today, does Verizon or ATT have a better plan? Because up until today, I thought Sprint's plan was the most generous and fairly priced plan out there....


Thanks for your help!
jjg

Unlimited 40.00 intl plan add-on is unlimited.

Per sprints website:

BlackBerry� Worldwide
The ultimate travel companion, take your BlackBerry with you oversees, including countries like Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and more. With unlimited international web surfing and email, you can find the nearest piazza on the go, reply while relaxing and keep up with your inbox beyond the borders.


Text messaging will not work in most non US/Canadian countries, this is per sprints website.

Support - Country codes for international text messages


GPS wont work in most other countries as of right now. It will with AT&T but you have to pay extra (over and above your normal telenav sub).


Japan has data roaming in most cities with Sprint. A full list can be found here:

International Wireless Service – From Sprint


Most phones will use more battery when roaming (international or domestic) as they are trying to look for a native carrier too frequently.


If you want somewhat cheap intl blackberry data + intl SMS, tmobile isn't a bad choice, however you give up some domestic coverage as they dont have as many roaming agreements in the US as Sprint does. In addition their blackberry will not work in as many places in asia as your tour will. Your particular needs will dictate the best choice for you.

On the bright side, i'm glad to hear voice and data (minus sms) worked without any problems. I suspect your bill will be ok, just check it carefully when it arrives. You will likely need to leave the intl data 40.00 roaming feature activated until all data has billed or you may get charged.

Hope this helps.

[Artemis68]

I'm sorry you had this happen to you.

However, I would NOT suggest T-Mobile as a good carrier for international data. They only have one international "data" plan and it ONLY supports international push email, no web use, no app use, etc. All other data is charged $15/MB for most countries.

Seriously, if you're looking for a good international data option, DON'T go to T-Mobile.

[Mystic205]

Quoting thw website is not necessarily the entire truth.. a visit to the terms of service is also required.. this is where the definition of unlimited usually resides.

ALL carriers deliberately obfuscate information on roaming... none of them are to be trusted to disclose or know full details and i would recommend anyone calling prior to an overseas visit do an online chat session...specifically quote the countries to be visited and then at least you have a log as evidence.

Note that texting has nothing to do with the data plan. texting is part of the voice plan not a data plan and so expect to pay for text while roaming.

[earthshaker78]

Do u need to have the Sprint SIM card in the BB to get the unlimited data?

Cause i wanna use a local SIM when i travel oversea to make phone calls... Would i have to switch between the 2 to use data...

Thank You

[Mystic205]

yes you would need the sprint sim to take advantage of the data capabilities of the tour when overseas..

this is why i am waiting for the version with wifi... use a local sim card for voice/txt and wifi for data... call it the poor mans world phone..

almost no local sims include data.. you may want to pick up a cheap slug of an unlocked phone for voice calls

Do u need to have the Sprint SIM card in the BB to get the unlimited data?

Cause i wanna use a local SIM when i travel oversea to make phone calls... Would i have to switch between the 2 to use data...

Thank You

[rawvega]

They then told me that the reason it doesn't work is because there is no Sprint coverage in Southern Japan and they don't know how I'm getting signal or calling their customer care. According to the rep, she said that the roaming is only valid if they have a contract with that carrier. So if my phone roams to another carrier in that country that they don't have a contract will, I could be responsible for the charges. First of all, how do I control that and know about the many wireless carriers in each country when the Sprint international site is a piece of junk. Secondly, how would I control that with my blackberry settings? Additionally, I was told that the international plan isn't actually unlimited. So the max is 300MB. Ok, that stinks but here's the worst part. I was also told that the international plan only covers 5 countries!!! So any other locations will be the roaming rate of up to $25 per MB!

You got a bad rep that needs to be fired. All of that is pretty much false. Unless there's been a dramatic change, unlimited international data is actually unlimited. Only covers 5 countries?! Lol How do some of these people keep their jobs.

Because I specifically asked them about the details of the plan before upgrading to the tour. I said "so if I am in Germany or England or Iraq or Japan or Afghanistan or Peru and I need to access the internet or check my e-mail, I can do it as long as I get a GPRS signal and its included in my intl roaming plan, right?" The answer from the international care line? "YES, that is correct." Woohoo!

What you were originally told is correct to the best of my knowledge.

[TheScionicMan]

My boss went to Japan with a Tour and a USB modem. I called and put the intl plan on. A week or 2 after he is back, I get a call from VZW CS "This is a courtesy call to warn you about the impending data charges from Japan. It's going to be just about $5,000.00... Well, the intl package doesn't include Japan and its 100mb this and industry jargon that..."

I was quite adamant that this was never explained to me because we would have worked it differently. She was able to go back and pull the recording of the call and found that they didn't explain it properly, so they ate the ridiculous charges. Now I make a point of asking for all the details whenever I have someone traveling.

[Mystic205]

FYI to ALL..

*unlimited* and *soft cap* are things which do NOT exist in the majority of the world.. There are hard fixed limits on data usage. .. and your carrier MUST pay these charges..wanna sit in Europe or Asia and watch videos or have radio streaming 24/7?.... refinance the house and dont whine here.. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED


1. Read all the applicable terms of service..
2. Have a chat session and log the conversation..it may be your only defense (as in this case below)

My boss went to Japan with a Tour and a USB modem. I called and put the intl plan on. A week or 2 after he is back, I get a call from VZW CS "This is a courtesy call to warn you about the impending data charges from Japan. It's going to be just about $5,000.00... Well, the intl package doesn't include Japan and its 100mb this and industry jargon that..."

I was quite adamant that this was never explained to me because we would have worked it differently. She was able to go back and pull the recording of the call and found that they didn't explain it properly, so they ate the ridiculous charges. Now I make a point of asking for all the details whenever I have someone traveling.

[SprintTour155]

Guess we are not getting an update from the OP, seeing when he started this thread. I would like to see what his bill looked like, i hope they squared it all away.

[lnichols]

I've used my Tour all over Japan main island, and Naha. Worked in Mexico, San Salvador, China. Google maps has worked in all locations, but it was about half mile off in China. Turned on the international plan every time. The GPS on the newer 5.0 Sprint OS is much more accurate and acquires much faster so you should upgrade. I would say your rep was very bad.

[2000 Man]

The OP obviously doesn't search so well.

1. GPS will NEVER work outside of CDMA coverage because of Qualcomm licensing issues.

2. SMS will also never work in most countries and Sprint has never claimed that it will.

3. The Unlimited International Data Pack is unlimited. You can roam internationally and use data even without having the $40/month extra attached to your plan but then you'll be charged the casual data roaming rate.

[John P. Smith]

Hi. My wife has a Curve 8330 on Sprint. I'd like to get her Blackberry data service for an upcoming European trip. Her line is not currently eligible for a phone upgrade-- if it was, I'd get her a Tour.

Am I correct that I can buy a refurb unlocked GSM Curve, obtain a SIM from Sprint, pop it in the GSM Berry, register it on her Sprint line and add the international data plan to the line? If so, once this is done and she is overseas she just has to log into her BIS account, and her BB email will work? Any pitfalls? Would she have to download service books etc. to the GSM Berry once she gets overseas? (I understand the Sprint SIM won't work in the U.S.)

Also, could the GSM Berry be set to do data only and not accept any voice calls (which would be charged at the steep voice roaming rate)? She'll have a different phone for voice while overseas.

Thanks!

[earthshaker78]

That sounds like a great idea for voice, but is it also good4data... Or would it b bttr2add the sprint international data pack4dat....

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[TheScionicMan]

I don't know if Sprint has a similar deal, but VZW has what they call the Global Traveler program. You can call up and they will ship out an 8830WE to use on the trip. They only charge you for the $10 postage, no rental fees, etc., as long as you return it within 30 days. After they pro-rate the plan change for a few days-weeks, its not that much of a price difference. I couldn't see my wife hunting down a SIM card in a foreign country while on vacation, she probably couldn't handle it HERE... Just a thought, I just ordered another one today.

[John P. Smith]

IF you have an unlocked phone, she simply needs to go to one of the local carriers in that country and buy a SIM and put some minutes on it. No need to even have Sprint in the mix. Depending on the country, they also have prepaid blackberry plans (I think Orange and O2 offer these).

The easiest thing is to go to this link and put in the country, then it will tell you which carriers offer blackberry service

Once you have that, just look up those carrier websites and you may find prepaid blackberry options

I'm aware that overseas carriers offer prepaid sims that can be used for blackberry data. But the rates are much higher than Sprint's unlimited worldwide data plan. Also, she will be in multiple countries and doesn't want to deal with multiple sims -- the Sprint plan is a one-stop solution. My question is whether the Sprint global data plan can be used with a non-Sprint unlocked GSM Blackberry. Anybody have experience with this?

[Mystic205]

You need to call CS.. look at the prior post by thescionman.

Sprint will & can do exactly the same, essentially a phone rental with one of the sprint sims..

I'm aware that overseas carriers offer prepaid sims that can be used for blackberry data. But the rates are much higher than Sprint's unlimited worldwide data plan. Also, she will be in multiple countries and doesn't want to deal with multiple sims -- the Sprint plan is a one-stop solution. My question is whether the Sprint global data plan can be used with a non-Sprint unlocked GSM Blackberry. Anybody have experience with this?

[Mystic205]

yes sprint does have a SIM card, oterhwise customers could not use their 8830WE and 8630 overseas and roam and still be billed by sprint.

there are advantages of the sprint sim, particularly the international data roaming.. where if you are going to more than one country it is both cheaper and more convenient to use than local sims.

in addition, there are not a whole host of pre-paid sims that include data/BIS

the recent question in this thread is solely associated with using a sprint sim on an unlocked, non sprint BB that is not natively supported by sprint.

Fair enough. As best I know, Sprint doesn't have a SIM, so not sure how you would work that part out. If the Sprint worldwide data plan is cheaper than a local SIM, please let me know. All my calculations (and experiences) say otherwise, but I'm open to being corrected.

[John P. Smith]

the recent question in this thread is solely associated with using a sprint sim on an unlocked, non sprint BB that is not natively supported by sprint.

Bingo. You can't beat the Sprint international data roaming plan for cost and access. $40 a month for unlimited data including 3G in many countries, and it is a plan attachable so you can add it before leaving on a trip, drop it upon returning, and pay only for days used.

As for the suggestion of renting a GSM device from Sprint, they charge $60 a month to rent a dumb GSM phone so I shudder to think what they would charge for a Blackberry, if they rent them at all. I can buy an unlocked refurb GSM Curve for around $100 so renting from Sprint doesn't appeal.

International services are not generally a topic on which info obtained from Sprint CS reps can be trusted, so I was hoping someone here had experience.

[2000 Man]

The answer is simple. No, you can't ask Sprint to activate a GSM-only phone, even if it's just for Europe.

Either get an 8830 that works everywhere in the world or buy the GSM-only phone and buy a prepaid SIM in Europe.

[sprint_fan]

I would buy a 8830 if you can find one cheap, and have them use that for the data and overseas. I don't know how much their phone rentals are, but then you would always have the 8830 for going overseas (if you ever do that again).

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[bikedogrun]

The answer is simple. No, you can't ask Sprint to activate a GSM-only phone, even if it's just for Europe.

Either get an 8830 that works everywhere in the world or buy the GSM-only phone and buy a prepaid SIM in Europe.

Not true!

I just arranged to buy ($15) the intl sim to use with the $40 International Data Roaming Plan. If you are a Sprint customer with any of the Everything or Everything Data Plans now, you are eligible. It will provide "Unlimited" email + data in any GSM/GPRS country and work with any unlocked GSM quad-band phone. I'm an Android user and will use an unlocked Motorola Cliq but BBs will definitely also work... as will a Winmo phone.

/BD

[aerophage]

Here's one thing to keep in mind (and the reason I only JUST got my berry working over here in Iraq) ... Sprint does NOT allow GSM roaming if you are an ASL customer.