Hello everyone!! I am new to Blackberry and I am excited! I am from Mexico and I used to have a Treo 680, I really liked it, but now that I have my curve I can tell you that this is the BEST smartphone ever.... e-mail, meesaging, multimedia, QWERTY, all in one tiny device!.... And you also guys in pinstack are very friendly and the posts are really useful! In fact I read your forum before I bought my BB and you really convinced me....
As everything I read on this forum have been very usefull, I want to comment about my experience regarding the BIS in Mexico using Telcel carrier.....
First of all I bought an Unlocked curve.... I had some doubts regarding the data service (will it work or not).... once my device arived I was able to use my voice plan since the beggining... but the facts are the following:
1. The only way to activate the BIS is by having a contract with telcel (you have to pay the voice and the data service monthly), NO AMIGO plan is allowed to activate BIS.
2.Telcel is tough and will be difficult for you to activate a device that hasn´t been sold by them.... I asked someone to borrow me his BB Pearl (he use it as phone only)... and by showing that Pearl they activate me the BIS service (the lady in the front desk checked the serial and verify if it was bought in Telcel.... It appear to me that if I would not have done that, the Telcel people would have denied me the BIS service.... (did someone else had the same luck as me? or the service were denied to you???) :D
3. Even the Curve has not been realesed yet in Mexico, I am able to use the BIS.... so as long as you buy an UNLOCKED GSM Blackberry you will be able to use it even if it is a device that is not "officially" supported.... do not pay attention to the Telcel web that says that only the devices that are listed in the site are supported... you are able to use another device, but may be will be difficult to have assistance if you run into troubles)
4. Once I exit the Telcel office, I change my SIM card from the Pearl (my friend´s device) to my Curve... the Telcel lady told me that in about 2 hours I will have the service... the service activated in about 8 hours.... as I was new to BB.... I noticed that the service was activated because the browser and the email icon appeared and the EDGE tag became uppercase....
5. If you try to "register" the device in the Telcel website to "activate" BIS before the facts that I described previously, you will read something like "The device with the PIN number that you are trying to register belongs to a different carrier (other than Telcel).... I did that and I was worried cause I tought that my curve will no work with the telcel network.... but later, once that happen what I described in 4 you will be able to register in the BB Telcel website and setup your email accounts!!!
(Sorry If I am being very descriptive, but I think that people that is new to BB in Mexico using telcel service will find this very valuable.... I found here general things that apply in the USA and overseas, but there is not much info available about the BB service in Mexico)
6. Email works more than great.... I setup in breeze my Prodigy and gmail accounts.... I download the google talk messenger and works very good... voice quality is Superb....
7. I installed skype+ but I was not able to place an internet call to mys kype contacts.... May be I have to buy the retail version.... (If some one was able to use it I will be glad to hear how)... I also installed the IM+ messenger and it works fine...
my evaluation version will expire in a couple of days....
8. Internet Browsing is very good.... EDGE speed is sometimes boring, but it is better than nothing....
9. Multimedia, SMS worked great....
10. I have not used my curve as tethered modem yet, but I will try... what I have read at Pinstack is that you are billed by using it.... I don't know if that's the same with Telcel.... If someone already did it please let me know..... anyway I will try it soon (well, may be not very soon, but I will try, I hope not to be overbilled)
11. I have not use PIN messages yet, (I have not met someone else that have a BB within my colleages or friends, I hope they will soon)
Thank you to everyone at Pinstack, you are great.... I hope this info is usefull for everyone, specially fo those that want to use the Telcel service in Mexico.... Blackberry really really rocks..... it is the best smartphone I've ever had....
If you have comments or questions feel free to contact me or PIN me (will be my first PIN message)....
PIN: Ask for it!!! (I hope there is no crazy people here)
New to BB and Pinstack
Re: New to BB and Pinstack
