[David Tyler]

I recently activated 9860 on BIS with AT&T right before Hurricane Irma.

It happened automatically when they setup line with IMEI and SIM. The associates don't even know about BB or BIS. They just have to grab older larger SIM and AT&T system does the rest.

That was exactly my experience when I started using a Bold 9900 as my second phone in 2013. It's a rare AT&T associate who knows about BIS, but that's _fine_: You just have them reach inside their cookie jar full of old-timey SIM cards and get one for you. Go home, call the number on the SIM card holder to provision the phone number, and -- voila! -- your little BlackBerry icon just shows up. No special plan; no cajoling someone to throw a switch somewhere -- it just happens.

[RaybanRJ]

You pay extra for BIS in the US? I know with Rogers it is just included, no extra fees.

[conite]

You pay extra for BIS in the US? I know with Rogers it is just included, no extra fees.

The carriers pay for it. Whether they pass it along to their customers is up to them.

This is one of the two big reasons carriers turned away from BlackBerry with the advent of Android and iOS devices. The other is that non-BIS devices are more bandwidth hungry.

[Chuck Finley69]

That was exactly my experience when I started using a Bold 9900 as my second phone in 2013. It's a rare AT&T associate who knows about BIS, but that's _fine_: You just have them reach inside their cookie jar full of old-timey SIM cards and get one for you. Go home, call the number on the SIM card holder to provision the phone number, and -- voila! -- your little BlackBerry icon just shows up. No special plan; no cajoling someone to throw a switch somewhere -- it just happens.

There was no provisioning or anything, everything automated now. I left the store with it BISsing away (see that..)

[idssteve]

Impressive, when you think about it, that a relatively complex subsystem, that carriers would likely just as soon see disappear, still activates and functions so well in spite of total ignorance within carrier service departments... a full six years after BIS was stupidly proclaimed dead. Lol. Says a great deal about dedication and foresight of someone, somewhere... Mike L ??? Lol.

I routinely activate and deactivate bis and non-bis phones on both vzw and att. Either they're not charging for bis or they're charging it for all devices... lol. I'm paying exactly the same for my 9930 as for Classic, for example. Of course they make far more off of my Classic in data charges. Lol. Even tho it receives <10% of my use. 9930 gets 90% of my heavy lifting. It's virtually always playing tune-in when I'm driving... racked up 30+k miles so far this year. 9930 data NEVER exceeds 1G. A powerful motive for vzw to want it gone... yet, if it were a headache for them, I've NO doubt they'd add a charge for it like vzw does for EVERYthing else... lol. Clearly they still value their bis customers?

[Chuck Finley69]

The carriers pay for it. Whether they pass it along to their customers is up to them.

This is one of the two big reasons carriers turned away from BlackBerry with the advent of Android and iOS devices. The other is that non-BIS devices are more bandwidth hungry.

Both of these are correct in the USA. AT&T does not charge for BIS, however, back in the day, it started @$20/month additional to regular data and decreased about $5/month every two years until free as per consumer viewpoint with regular data.

[idssteve]

Both of these are correct in the USA. AT&T does not charge for BIS, however, back in the day, it started @$20/month additional to regular data and decreased about $5/month every two years until free as per consumer viewpoint with regular data.

Very similar with vzw.

[Nguyen1]

Well, I guess I'll be sticking with my postpaid ATT plan then. I like using my 9900 on BIS. I'm trying to get an AT&T 9300, too. I want to compare battery life between a touchscreen vs non-touchscreen phone. As it is, the 9900 can go for 3+ days between charges when used as my primary phone. My Wind 9300 can go a WEEK+ with all radios off and used as a kindle reader daily.

On a different note, why is "Always On" display a good thing? My friend was just over, gushing about her new Samsung S8 with its always-on AMOLED screen. Huh? So...you can't turn the screen off...ever... (unless you dig into settings), and that's a good thing?

It's some sort of scam. Always-On + unremovable battery = you buy a new phone from Samsung in <2 years, and South Korea thanks you for being an obedient sheep...

[RaybanRJ]

Well, I guess I'll be sticking with my postpaid ATT plan then. I like using my 9900 on BIS. I'm trying to get an AT&T 9300, too. I want to compare battery life between a touchscreen vs non-touchscreen phone. As it is, the 9900 can go for 3+ days between charges when used as my primary phone. My Wind 9300 can go a WEEK+ with all radios off and used as a kindle reader daily.

On a different note, why is "Always On" display a good thing? My friend was just over, gushing about her new Samsung S8 with its always-on AMOLED screen. Huh? So...you can't turn the screen off...ever... (unless you dig into settings), and that's a good thing?

It's some sort of scam. Always-On + unremovable battery = you buy a new phone from Samsung in <2 years, and South Korea thanks you for being an obedient sheep...

Lol I’d sure like to know how anyone can go 3 days on a 9900.

[David Tyler]

Lol I’d sure like to know how anyone can go 3 days on a 9900.

Easy! You just stick in a "Fat Boy" battery!

[RaybanRJ]

Easy! You just stick in a "Fat Boy" battery!

I like my batteries like my women, trim and slim

[rayporsche]

Both of these are correct in the USA. AT&T does not charge for BIS, however, back in the day, it started @$20/month additional to regular data and decreased about $5/month every two years until free as per consumer viewpoint with regular data.

That's good to know ! Here in South Florida AT&T is currently charging me the monthly fees associated to the 'PLAN' of my choosing which is $40.00 then another $20.00 for what they call 'Access for Blackberry with Visual Voicemail' plus all of the other crap which goes like this : administrative fee, federal universal service charge, regulatory cost recovery charge, 911 service fee, city communications tax and the FL state communications tax ! I believe that none of the other data-only devices that I'm currently using are paying as much ...

I will be contacting them today for sure, thank you for the heads up...

UPDATE / Contacted AT&T: BIS included as we thought, the $20.00 is just a phone access fee meaning as in any phone access fee not just BBerry + plan + taxes & other fees...

[anon(8063781)]

Lol I’d sure like to know how anyone can go 3 days on a 9900.

I suspect that two things are involved: good cell connections and just using the phone as a phone.

I find my phones have very good battery life at home, but can drain down dramatically (without me using them much) over the course of a day at my alternate work site, where the cell signal is weak.

At home, if I only used my phone for phoning, texts and checking email), I could probably get three days out of almost any of them. Except the Flipout: its battery life is terrible.

[idssteve]

Signal strength (and condition) plays BIG on endurance. My Passport will burn down by noon out here where att is less than a dim hope... lol. I've burned down my K1, renowned for monster battery (and weight! Lol), by shift change (<8hrs) inside of a concrete and steel facility packed full with freq drives and other electrically noisy stuff... Even my "fat boy" equipped 99 is ready for a swap after a day in THAT facility! Lol. At least it can be swapped and restored to 100% (or 300% in Fat Boy's case. ) in 2 minutes, 40 seconds flat! Lol. Unlike my embedded battery "toys"! When working that facility, my routine is to swap Fat Boy each night before entering motel with charged spare from charger in truck. So, technically, Fat Boy powers 99 a solid 24hrs under the same exact conditions my monster K1 burns down in 8 hrs. Takes power to keep Google informed of my activities, I guess. Lol.

I'm a little more variable than Ralph, I guess... lol. Some days I feel like "trim & slim"... other days a little more to grasp is nice... BATTERIES, that is... lol. After 36 yrs with Wife, and 6 years with 99, i'd have to conclude that my tastes in phones, and spouse, tend to be more long term... lol. Love learning and perfecting... just despise wasting time & energy that COULD be directed toward perfecting skills than re-learning to re-invent the wheel. Especially when that newly re-invented wheel rolls rougher than the already optimized one... lol.

[RaybanRJ]

I suspect that two things are involved: good cell connections and just using the phone as a phone.

I find my phones have very good battery life at home, but can drain down dramatically (without me using them much) over the course of a day at my alternate work site, where the cell signal is weak.

At home, if I only used my phone for phoning, texts and checking email), I could probably get three days out of almost any of them. Except the Flipout: its battery life is terrible.

Without a SIM card and a fully charged newer battery on wifi only I can go almost a full day if I don’t touch the device. (Like when I condition/exercise batteries now) When using it maybe 6-9 hours at the most. Of course that depends on useage and signal strength etc, age of battery.....

I still watch the videos of when the 9900 was new and many reviewers were being generous when they would say “great battery life” despite the fact it was a downgrade from the 9780’s battery with 1500 mah. In reality we discovered and soon many complained that battery life was pretty terrible and that people would have to charge before suppertime. Many couldn’t make it to lunchtime on average useage.

But of course this is why it is essential to be able to swap out batteries in 2 minutes flat and be up and running in about 2-3 minutes depending on how many apps you had on it.

[RaybanRJ]

I'm a little more variable than Ralph, I guess... lol. Some days I feel like "trim & slim"... other days a little more to grasp is nice... BATTERIES, that is... lol. .

Hmm batteries are a good comparison to that “other thing” we are talking about because they both tend to Expand and Explode from time to time. ^_^

[Nguyen1]

Geesh, you have bad luck with batteries or something. Barely a day?

A random question : if I intentionally enter in ten wrong passwords for BBID, will a curve reset to factory and be ready to use as new? Or will it lock and brick up on me?

[Kiwistat]

I think the “Big 4” (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint) all still support BIS.

Vodafone New Zealand still support BIS. The other two networks here do not. Its a free add on.

[arfeo]

9900 has got a very weak battery unit. I gave my Bold to my mom, she phones a few times and sends sms maybe once or twice a day. And despite of this, she has to charge it every single day.

Posted via CB10

[RaybanRJ]

Geesh, you have bad luck with batteries or something. Barely a day?

A random question : if I intentionally enter in ten wrong passwords for BBID, will a curve reset to factory and be ready to use as new? Or will it lock and brick up on me?

Ya I think it will wipe clean and you have to start from scratch.

[idssteve]

9900 has got a very weak battery unit. I gave my Bold to my mom, she phones a few times and sends sms maybe once or twice a day. And despite of this, she has to charge it every single day.

Posted via CB10

9900's small battery contributes to its compactness. They pulled all stops for "thin". (Camera suffered in the name of "thin" also.) 99's battery was sized barely adequately for a light use day with expectation that the battery pack is easily swapped out mid way of a heavy use day.

Embedded battery handsets, however, can't be swapped out when they're drained and so must be sized to endure a hard day. That's fine for hard days but means your hand is handling and lugging around unnecessary bulk on lighter use days.

99's swapable configuration permits smaller, lighter batteries, while also affording the versatile option to easily fit larger batteries when needed. Some of us rock a 3000mAh "Fat Boy" that provides DAYS of heavy use endurance. I still use my 5000 mAh "Horse" that has endured 4 days of pretty heavy use. Other days I feel like "trim & slim" and opt for compact oem JM1.

In short, anyone who thinks 9900 needs a bigger battery simply needs to get a bigger battery! Lol. Or, carry a very compact JM1 as spare. I do both.

[anon(8063781)]

Without a SIM card and a fully charged newer battery on wifi only I can go almost a full day if I don’t touch the device. (Like when I condition/exercise batteries now) When using it maybe 6-9 hours at the most. Of course that depends on useage and signal strength etc, age of battery.....

I still watch the videos of when the 9900 was new and many reviewers were being generous when they would say “great battery life” despite the fact it was a downgrade from the 9780’s battery with 1500 mah. In reality we discovered and soon many complained that battery life was pretty terrible and that people would have to charge before suppertime. Many couldn’t make it to lunchtime on average useage.

But of course this is why it is essential to be able to swap out batteries in 2 minutes flat and be up and running in about 2-3 minutes depending on how many apps you had on it.

Either you need a new battery or an update to 7.1.0.1098. That's very poor battery life. On WiFi only, mine will go for days.

[littlebuff]

Saw it on TV or youtube that they are making some new houses in the US with entire wall and roof from concrete with fine wire mesh. That must be terrible on the cell signals.

Posted via CB10

[anon(8063781)]

Saw it on TV or youtube that they are making some new houses in the US with entire wall and roof from concrete with fine wire mesh. That must be terrible on the cell signals.

Posted via CB10

But it must be a total relief not to have wear your tinfoil hat indoors!

[David Tyler]

But it must be a total relief not to have wear your tinfoil hat indoors!

Mine always messes up my hair.