Using Blackberry Messaging and internet in Spain with T-Mobile

melb

Hi all so much for mobile phone usage in europe coming down in price! the last couple of times we've been to Spain I've paid £4 a week for my daughter to be able to use BB Messaging and internet browsing/facebook in Spain. have just rung them now and the cost is £4 a day. I don't want to pay £56 for a fortnight. Please can anyone suggest a way we can do this cheaper bearing in mind we leave this Wednesday. also son is on T-mobile but not on a blackberry we paid similar for his internet usage. Please help with any suggestions

smartphone

Hi - depends when they want to use the phones. If it's going to be when you're in and around the a hotel/apartment, is there WiFi available? When I go abroad, I switch the data roaming off and use WiFi only. It means you can't check messages and Facebook with quite the same freedom, but you are still "in touch" to a reasonable degree.

melb

yes one of the apartments we're staying in has wi-fi but not the other. so if there's wifi does it not cost anything at all? When I've now done some more research the T-mobile website says there is a cap of £4 per day rather than it costing £4 a day so perhaps (when we're away from the wifi) she could just use it for browsing and definitely no downloading and keep checking her balance.

Jon_01

Her balance won't update in real time as she not on her home network.

She'll be using a partner Spanish network, and they will only send the usage info through to her home network once every 24 to 48 hours. So don't rely on that for anything.

If there is an app for BB's that monitors usage install that and check it lots!

NiftyDigits

The T-Mobile cost is not £4 per day. It is a maximum of £4 per day. The same as before.
Before this you could buy the BlackBerry World Email with unlimited usage for £15 per month.

To avoid paying up to £56 for the fortnight, you will need to unlock the BlackBerry. This costs around £1. Lots on eBay UK offering this service.
It's very simple, especially if you already have BlackBerry Desktop Software already installed on your PC. If not, they usually supply the necessary Blackberry Drivers on their front page.
You just run a piece of BlackBerry Reader software on your PC and choose for it to 'Read Phone' and then plug your phone to the PC via USB.
This will show you your IMEI and you MEP ID. Send those details to the eBay seller and they will send you your unlock code by return, with instructions on where to enter the code.
It is as simple as that. Easily done before you leave.

Then when you get to Spain, you can pop into a mobile telephone shop to buy a local SIM. The Orange Dolphin(Delfin) Prepaid SIM costs 10 euros and has 5 euros of credit included. Get the person in the shop to activate it for BlackBerry Internet Service. For €4.13 of the credit, you get BlackBerry Internet Service for a week, 50 domestic SMS and 100MB of data. Top up another €5 whilst in the shop and the package will automatically take the credit for another week of access.

So €15 will cover your daughter's BB usage, within reason for the fortnight. Everything will work exactly as with the T-Mobile SIM. Her contacts will be intact and she will be able to communicate seamlessly.
When she gets back, she can just pop her T-Mobile SIM back in, with no ill effect.

Don't know about your son's phone, as you haven't stated the model. But Internet Boosters work with non-BlackBerry phones, but £10 for 50MB is not great value compared to a local SIM.
A Carrefour sim will give you 20MB per day for 50c per day. Tuente; 1 GB for around 7 euros.

smartphone

Regarding WiFi, the only cost would be the cost of being able to use the WiFi...so if the hotel charges, it's just whatever the cost is. Just ensure the settings on the phone are to not use data roaming and to use WiFi only.

melb

thanks all - especially Niftydigits and I will try that for the next trip. As usual I've left it too late as we fly on Wednesday,

NiftyDigits

melb wrote: »

thanks all - especially Niftydigits and I will try that for the next trip. As usual I've left it too late as we fly on Wednesday,

No, you have not left it too late.
It takes five minutes to get the IMEI and MEP ID from the phone and another five to order the code via EBay. The code will likely be in your inbox when you wake up tomorrow. Takes a minute to enter the code in order to unlock the phone.
Even if you did it as late as Tuesday night, you could check your email and enter the code when you arrived in Spain. Then you can pop the local SIM in.

Loads of time. Get organised woman.

Here is a relevant link to make it easier for you: cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160566594231

If that isn't the correct model, just put the model number in a note to the seller.

It's as easy as pie.