vB Easy Archive - Buy 8700 here (no contract), then make it work in Greece?

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Buy 8700 here (no contract), then make it work in Greece?
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Posted by: stelios

Hello everyone, I'm new here so hello to all blackberry fans

Basically I reside in Greece and I'm now in the States (Chicago) for some business.

What I want to do is to buy a Blackberry 8700 here in Chicago, unlocked, with a T-Mobile to-go or other cardphone service, and then be able to use it with a contract in one of the BB service providers in Greece (namely TIM, vodafone.gr, cosmote.gr)

i tried contacting the greek operators to figure things out but to no avail - the guys are dinosaurs. I suppose for now I can just buy a new BB 8700 for like 400 bucks, and then buy a $50 T-Mobile card to make it work.. and then pray its gonna work with greek operators.. who still offer BB 7290 in contracts

Thanks in advance for any help guys. Really appreciated.

Posted by: NJBlackBerry

The T-Mobile pay as you go card will not offer you BlackBerry Service. Your account (T-Mobile US or one of the Greek carriers) must have a BlackBerry Data Plan on it. Without the BlackBerry Data Plan, you will have voice and SMS, but not data, Internet or e-mail.

If the Greek carriers you mentioned do not sell the BlackBerry plans, you'll have to find out if any of the US carriers have BlackBerry roaming agreements with the Greek carriers and roam ($$$) there.

Posted by: stelios

thanks for the fast response NJ, i don't care for blackberry data plan on the temporary card I will purchase here, I just need a local gsm number. what's important though is the greek blackberry contract. they offer blackberry data plans, but with older devices (like 7290) . bad thing is the support guys dont know anything about compatibility outside their own offered devices!

hope that helps
thanks again

Posted by: stelios

Just an update...

I just found a link for BB software download from Vodafone in Greece

blackberry.com/Downloads/entry.do?code=9AA42B31882EC039965F3C4923CE901B

i suppose that means I can just buy a 8700v here and then unlock it and download that software?

Posted by: NJBlackBerry

That won't help you. The software is "generic". It will work on any 8700, but does not change the functionality or allow you to use one network over the other.

Does Vodafone in Greece use a BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service). If so, it is *possible* that they will allow you to register your US 8700 onto their BIS. THen again, they may not.

You definitely need to find out if they will add the BlackBerry Data Plan to yourGreek SIM card.

Posted by: stelios

OK! good news is that a customer service supervisor replied to my e-mail and told me that TIM will allow me to register the 8700 onto their network

so thats perfect!!
thanks for the help so far guys

Posted by: dizzle247

*** Mod Edit***

Posted by: stelios

dizzle sounds great, can you PM me some info on that? both for getting the cingular version and then unlocking it along with costs involved?

thanks in advance!

Posted by: stelios

hi guys, thats the response I got from TIM support in athens:

in case that the device (8700) PIN has never been used for a Blackberry account, then you can connect that to our network and use Blackberry services.

so I suppose its safe to either:

1) buy an unlocked blackberry 8700 (which are the best places for that online?)

2) buy an 8700 from either cingular or t-mobile retail stores without contract, and then unlock it afterwards?

which of the two do you guys recommend?
thanks again for all your support so far, its really helpful!
Stelios

Posted by: stelios

any ideas on the edited post above?

thanks again.....