BlackBerry

[brandon1504]

I currently have a Blackberry 9700 on Vodafone with a BIS package that lets me use BBM.

My girlfriend has gone away to California for two weeks and is not sure what the best way to contact me is,

I have read online that its free to send BBM's internationally? is this true?

She has a Blackberry 8520 on O2 and also has a BIS package.

I would like to know if we can have conversations on BBM whilst she is away without incurring any extra data charges on either of our phones? Thankyou

[Ruddiger]

1. You have BIS (with a quota of data - perhaps 500MB) included. It will not cost you anything extra to BBM, email or browse the net on your BB when YOU are in the UK. You can BBM other BBs who may be anywhere in the world (even on different international networks) and you will not be charged anything more for doing so.
2. Your girlfriend WILL pay roaming charges which will appear on her next O2 bill when she uses BBM overseas.
3. She can avoid these roaming charges, and still use BBM, email and browsing on her BB, IF she is able to connect to WiFi when overseas and use her BIS service through that.
4. In 'Manage Connections'; you can turn on WiFi; connect to an accesspoint (perhaps at a friend's or in the hotel) and when WiFi is on AND she is connected (in range) of the WiFi, ALL BIS data will pass through the WiFi connection, NOT, the 3G mobile network, AND therefore be free as far as her bill is concerned!

I hope that helps. (It is sometimes impossible to 'connect' to the BIS service through an overseas WiFi internet connection and she would then not be able to use BIS data 'as normal' for free. (Even though you can connect to the WiFi point perfectly well; behind the scenes, the internet provider MAY restrict connections to the BIS servers thereby disabling BB data over their internet network) The only choice then is to be hit with the extortionate roaming fees for data.) Look here for an example in the Middle East http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/BlackBerry-Devices/Bold-9700-No-BIS-over-wifi-Vodafone-UK/td-p/504041

BBs do use so little data though that she is likely to find it cheaper to use BBM to 'text' as much as she likes; rather than paying for each and every SMS message whilst she is away.

[brandon1504]

Thank you, your post is very helpful

I had one more small question... say I sent her BBM messages and told her not to reply (so to not incur data charges) would she be charged for receiving them? as reading is downloading data?

Thank you again

[Ruddiger]

You are right - if she receives a BBM but does not respond, she has received data and will face a roaming charge if received over the phone network (not WiFi).

If it is a case of avoiding costs with her receiving messages; then just SMS her and have her not respond. You will not be charged any extra AND she will not be charged to receive the SMS when abroad.