BlackBerry Internet Service provider

[spid3y]

Hi all,

Just want to ask about the provider for BB, which one u guys think is the best?

M1 compare to Singtel compare to Starhub.
according to the price, speed, network coverage?

thx before

[sierra2469alpha]

Spid3y - a few iseas for ya!

1. we went with Starhub for all our comms and CATV, because according to our calling patterns, and the combined discounts for bundling all services with them, we got some good discounts. I CANNOT stress the need to look at your calling and mobile data patterns in order to make an informed decision! So make Excel and your old bills your friend!

2. Research. Again, this is very important. I'm not sure if you are planning on travelling, but data overseas can be prohibitively expensive (we had a $900 bill in Oman, folr example). Look for carriers with agreements with organisations such as Connexus (StarHub is one), and ensure you turn your BB data off before you leave SIN, then ensure you choose one of the agreed carriers. BIG TIP: failing to do so your BB will try and synch with the BES and if you are not on an agreed carrier, you'll get stung $-wise.

HTH, Mr. P

[DimWit Kid]

Can't really put forward any comparison since I only use Singtel and that's it... (due to company restriction).

Just interested at s2a comment.. I too am traveling a lot but in the heaviest of travel, my BB bill has seldom exceeded 150 bucks (in fact it has never hit 200 mark except once). I always use 3G BB even when traveling (including US, Europe, Japan, Korea etc - China only have GPRS as do Thailand). I get something like 100 odd emails a day - and on my travel I would usually open them all with my BB. How do you get huge bill for BB? Do you open attachments, etc on your BB? I don't do that as I have problem actually reviewing any sort of attachment on BB's screen...

My big bill is on voice roaming (above 1K) but I did once, when I first use iPhone, tried to use it to surf while roaming and got hit with a few hundred bucks of bills for a very light surfing session... So to me it seems there's difference in data charges for BB and broadband on mobile? My subscription plan for BB is BES (no voice plan on this account - purely BES Data Plan unlimited at 59.90) while my separate data plan is on BBoM 2000 - both with Singtel.

IF it's useful at all, I have no complaint about Singtel's ability to roam.

By the way s2a, good tip on connexus - haven't come across it before... I'll try to compare that with my current Bridge alliance...

[sierra2469alpha]

DWT - true - voice will hit you where it hurts also.

As I said in my post it was in the Middle East (OMAN) where we got booted bill wise for data and voice!!! The M.E. countries do protect their own telco's, hence why I was warning our new friend.

JAP, KOR, TWN, TLD etc as you say are fine as long as you do roam with their partner (with StarHub, that's a Connexus partner).

In terms of the difference between your iSuck and BB - I'd think that some of the telco's here in SIN, because they market a BB only plan and also a DATA plan (you and I both know it's the same transmission layer), don't interact with the other countries billing systems that well. Telstra in AUS did this for some years - we didn't even get charged roaming data - it just came out of a $99 per year package!!! I'm sure they have woken up to that, lah!

The big issue for all of us global roamers is finding plans that give us a decent deal on both voice and data.

HTH to clarify my post? Cheers, P

[DimWit Kid]

Thanks Mr. P!

BTW, I just found out that my colleague who came from US but now based in Shanghai actually has a BB connection with a US provider. He paid US$ 80 per month to the US provider to maintain his BES connection, and he doesn't get charged anything for roaming (meaning all the time he use that BB to get his email in China and when he travel all around Asia ... sans MidEast ) - so there is actually possibility of that it's just the service provider profiteering as you said...

I was planning about getting somebody in US to apply for my use if my bill ever goes so high, but since most of the time I paid less than 100 Sing, I never got to do that!

[sierra2469alpha]

DWK - let me check it out with Telstra in AUS. I know Ms. C was paying something like $AUD 60 p/month for unlimited. I haven't deactivated either of our AUS accounts so this thread might help it out.

Now, if only we can get a BB which takes dual SIMS, or my STUPID HTC Touch Pro (which after 34 days I now hate).

[durain]

how about this! my japan colleagues BB are all from HK provider and connecting to the HK BES! it works out cheaper with the roaming than to get a BB in japan. dont ask me how much as i am sure some bean counter worked it out.

BB email data is pretty small unless you start openning large attachment. it is difficult to pinpoint one provider who is the best for everything.

[trapezium]

I have a blackberry unlimited subscription from m1. Do I need to switch off something before i go outside Singapore? I have to use voice calls on roaming but I don't have to particularly use email if they are charged extra.

[littlegreenman]

I have a blackberry unlimited subscription from m1. Do I need to switch off something before i go outside Singapore? I have to use voice calls on roaming but I don't have to particularly use email if they are charged extra.

Hi there, if you don't want to use Data roaming you can just select the option Data Service: Off when roaming under network options.