Activate a phone without having to pay?

[everett1911]

I have this blackberry phone I was given, and I tried to activate it online, but it wants me to pay a 15 dollars fee, and I was wondering, is there any way to activate my phone without having to pay that stupid fee? bell's plans are stupidly expensive enough that I could do without the fee.

[LouisR]

If it's an HSPA Blackberry, just unlock the thing and go elsewhere not so stupidly expensive.
If it's a CDMA Blackberry, no luck.