Thanks to inertiatic for his post. I checked out the RIM website and this does seem to be the answer to the problem, at least for Sprint users. The only questions remaining are: (1) Does this patch also work with other carriers, and (2) What about the 20% of people who do not use Sprint and have this problem?

If anyone has the nerve to try this on a phone from a carrier other than Sprint, please post your experience . Thanks . 73