International travellers -- which local carriers?

[phonemonkey]

We're in the process of getting some of our overseas users set up with BlackBerries. We have about 100 users in the US on a couple of different carriers, but this is the first time we'll have people who will be out of the US about 80% of the time.

All of the users have existing service with a local carrier (but we're willing to switch) and we're debating whether or not to have them upgrade that device to a BB, or simply give them a Cingular BB with unlimited international data. They'll then have to carry two devices. I'm not sure if everyone outside of North America has reasonable unlimited data plans, so $69/month to Cingular seems like it might be the best bet -- the problem then is two devices.

I'm also not sure about which carrier might be best for BB service in each of the countries listed below. If anyone has some feedback (good or bad) for any of these, I'd love to hear about your experiences. These folks will be using their phone extensively for voice, and probably about 10-15mb a month of BB data. They'll be on our BES.

Canada (Montreal, Toronto)
Mexico (Mexico City)
Puerto Rico (San Juan)
Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo)

UK (London)
France (Paris, Lyon)
Spain (Madrid and Barcelona)
Italy (Rome and Milan)
Israel (Tel Aviv and Jerusalem)
Jordan (Amman)

Australia (Sydney and Melbourne)
Singapore


I'm guessing that in Western Europe and Singapore, any of the GSM carriers will be fine, but I know options are more limited in Canada, Israel, Jordan, and the Caribbean.

Thanks for any ideas/advice/thoughts.

[wcberry]

We're in the process of getting some of our overseas users set up with BlackBerries. We have about 100 users in the US on a couple of different carriers, but this is the first time we'll have people who will be out of the US about 80% of the time.

All of the users have existing service with a local carrier (but we're willing to switch) and we're debating whether or not to have them upgrade that device to a BB, or simply give them a Cingular BB with unlimited international data. They'll then have to carry two devices. I'm not sure if everyone outside of North America has reasonable unlimited data plans, so $69/month to Cingular seems like it might be the best bet -- the problem then is two devices.

I'm also not sure about which carrier might be best for BB service in each of the countries listed below. If anyone has some feedback (good or bad) for any of these, I'd love to hear about your experiences. These folks will be using their phone extensively for voice, and probably about 10-15mb a month of BB data. They'll be on our BES.

Canada (Montreal, Toronto)
Mexico (Mexico City)
Puerto Rico (San Juan)
Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo)

UK (London)
France (Paris, Lyon)
Spain (Madrid and Barcelona)
Italy (Rome and Milan)
Israel (Tel Aviv and Jerusalem)
Jordan (Amman)

Australia (Sydney and Melbourne)
Singapore


I'm guessing that in Western Europe and Singapore, any of the GSM carriers will be fine, but I know options are more limited in Canada, Israel, Jordan, and the Caribbean.

Thanks for any ideas/advice/thoughts.

Sometimes getting local BB service requires you to be have the proper visa. A typical tourist or even business visa has not worked for my company. Our folks are assigned full time to some countries and have a resident visa which allows them to get the same thing as the locals. The countries I speak of are Kuwait and UAE. Without the resident visa, the best I can get is a pay as you go SIM which does not support BB data plans. We use ATT international plan in those countries which is fine for all the email and data usage. But the phone calls are expensive so they carry cheap phones with local voice pay as you go SIMS.

I cant say this is what it will be like in the countries you will be in, but may be something you would want to check on.

[lrdiaz]

A co-worker is in Singapore with an 8830, and to get BB data and PAM, she had to switch network to SINGTEL

[x14]

Data is relatively cheap but the voice plan is going to be the problem. If they get US numbers and they are out of the US 80% of the time they are going to rack up on international roaming charges.

Also, the local people will have to dial a US number when calling them. This is a good way to loose some friends.

[dc/dc]

We're in the process of getting some of our overseas users set up with BlackBerries. We have about 100 users in the US on a couple of different carriers, but this is the first time we'll have people who will be out of the US about 80% of the time.

All of the users have existing service with a local carrier (but we're willing to switch) and we're debating whether or not to have them upgrade that device to a BB, or simply give them a Cingular BB with unlimited international data. They'll then have to carry two devices. I'm not sure if everyone outside of North America has reasonable unlimited data plans, so $69/month to Cingular seems like it might be the best bet -- the problem then is two devices.

I'm also not sure about which carrier might be best for BB service in each of the countries listed below. If anyone has some feedback (good or bad) for any of these, I'd love to hear about your experiences. These folks will be using their phone extensively for voice, and probably about 10-15mb a month of BB data. They'll be on our BES.

Canada (Montreal, Toronto)
Mexico (Mexico City)
Puerto Rico (San Juan)
Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo)

UK (London)
France (Paris, Lyon)
Spain (Madrid and Barcelona)
Italy (Rome and Milan)
Israel (Tel Aviv and Jerusalem)
Jordan (Amman)

Australia (Sydney and Melbourne)
Singapore


I'm guessing that in Western Europe and Singapore, any of the GSM carriers will be fine, but I know options are more limited in Canada, Israel, Jordan, and the Caribbean.

Thanks for any ideas/advice/thoughts.

Go local when possible:

Canada (Montreal, Toronto) - Rogers
Mexico (Mexico City) - Telcel
Puerto Rico (San Juan) - at&t
Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo) - may need at&t or T-Mobile unlimited

UK (London) - Vodafone
France (Paris, Lyon) - Orange
Spain (Madrid and Barcelona) - Telefonica
Italy (Rome and Milan) - Vodafone
Israel (Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) - Orange
Jordan (Amman) - may need at&t or T-Mobile unlimited

Australia (Sydney and Melbourne) - Vodafone
Singapore - Vodafone