Sasktel network and Unlocked phones

My Toddler dumped by blackberry curve 8330 into the toilet and sadly it no longer works. I currenlty have a contract with Sasktel in Canada and it is $600+ for a new phone which i cant afford. I have found several blackberrys via ebay that are "unlocked" and the seller assures me they will work on any network. However when i call to ask sasktel they have told me that ONLY sasktel phones will work on their network. I do have a friend that purchased an unlocked AT+T Blackberry and was able to activate it on the rogers network with no issues. So i know it is possible, just wondering if it is too good to be true?

Most CDMA carriers (which Sasktel is) do not allow other than their devices on
their network.

Your friend was able to do this because Rogers and AT&T are GSM
carriers so it is simply a matter of unlocking the phone and replacing
the SIM card.

Sooooo, I guess my unlocked Bell phone and my Sasktel SIM card with a blackberry plan on it are never going to work together?

if you don't have the option to use the network it won't help.

unlocked Blackberry cell phone can be used with any SIM card of ANY network.
Some blackberry devices don't have a SIM slot, and some carriers are needed to be programed to the device, some of them using databases and there is not much can be done then.

Most unlocked HSPA devices will work on SASKTEL ..

Sask Tel told me the same thing that you cannot use a unlocked phone on their network. It would be nice to see if someone has done it. I personally think this is wrong for Sask tel to do this and why I will never deal with them.

I don't know why you won't deal with Sasktel. I have always found they have superior service and that their rates are very good.