Going to the US for 3 Months - Carrier Questions.

[AFK_Matrix]

Hi,

I am currently in the UK on a 18month Tmobile contract that ends in March so I can't upgrade :cry: I am going to be staying in the US for a 3 month period and would obviously like to use a phone.

I can get my hands on a brand new Unlocked BB Curve for £260 ($527). So I can put different sims in etc but my plan was just to buy a Pay as you Go sim so I don't have to use my UK tmobile plan and get hit with the costs. Now I have been told that if I go pay as you go I won't be able to get my emails etc. I would also like to get access to the internet just for maps and things. So what would you knowledable people suggest? Get a pay as you go and just accept I won't have any access to the internet or emails, or is there some other plan which would be better.

Also can you get BB Curves that are Unlocked and not on any network in the US? If so how much are these in the US

[JSanders]

AFK, you can look at Curve prices here on this Forum in the Buy Sell Trade section, and most can be unlocked for about $20US. You will definately need a BB Data Plan, although TMo will want a contract out of you as well. Maybe you should investigate getting an internation data plan with TMoUK from your side of the water. What would that cost?

[AFK_Matrix]

Well I phoned up Tmobile UK and they said even though I have Web n Walk (unlimited internet for £7.50 a month) I still have to pay the International rate for data which is £7.50 per mb :shock: I really don't want to pay that much.

To just clarify something though. If I were in the US and I want to recieve email on my Blackberry and I am using my UK Tmobile sim that I will get charged at £7.50 per mb? And I assume if I just get a pay as you go US sim that I won't be able to access the internet and my emails won't be pushed to me? Could I still grab the emails on my laptop and transfer them to the blackberry, only important ones mind?

Thanks for all the help.

[JSanders]

You can't transfer the emails via USB from your laptop to BB.

And right, a pay as you go US SIM won't give you push email and internet.

Does someone have a better idea for this guy?

[hchai]

Well, not as beautiful as the BB, to-go Sidekick from T-mobile US seems to be one of the option.

[AFK_Matrix]

Well I went and had a look on the AT&T and Tmobile websites and they do seperate data plans, but I couldn't find out how long the contract was for is it 2 years?

What would be ideal is a pay & go sim for voice and then a seperate data plan, but if the data plan has to be for 2 years that isn't gonna work.

Its looking like I'll just buy the curve, and just use a Pay & Go sim in it and not have any data.

[crisambo]

you could try out AT&T for 29 days . . . then T-mobile for another 19 days (29 days in CA) . . . pay for the month's use for each but then you need to avoid activation charges by using special codes when you sign up for service ...

AT&T 30-Day Return Policy | AT&T wireless services (http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/why/return-policy.jsp?WT.svl=calltoaction)
TMO T-Mobile Return Policy (http://www.t-mobile.com/Templates/Popup.aspx?PAsset=Ftr_Ftr_ReturnPolicy&print=true)

[AFK_Matrix]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to try and phone either tmobile or AT&T see if they can tell me more about there data plans. Otherwise i'll just have to accept that I won't be able to use data (or I can but its stupidly expensive) and buy a Pay as you go Sim so I can at least phone people on the Curve.

[prigby]

If you get a AT&T/Cingular Pay as you Go "Gophone" SIM, you are able to have voice calls AND data. The data will let you use things like Google Maps etc it would not give you Blackberry data function. I think you would need to set up you Curve to access the AT&T APN as well.

T-Mobile PAYG SIM in the US will give voice, but will not give data access.

When I go to the States, I just swap over my SIM to the AT&T card and then topup using a voucher. Its a lot cheaper to make calls and definately cheaper for Text messages too. One thing to remember, in the US you get charged for incoming calls and texts too! BUT it is still a lot cheaper than trying to roam with a UK SIM.