Right im on orange in england and i have a blackberry 8520. I am going to australia at the end of this month for up to a year.
Would my phone work there if i got it unlocked?
If so how could i make it only run of free wifi spots out there? so that it wont take money of a pay as you go sim card out there.
At the min im on contract with unlimited internet so ive never looked into it.

Thanks

Craig

1. Yes, it will work for voice and SMS only with a PAYG card.
2. You can use certain data features with WiFi hotspots, but not BlackBerry Messenger, e-mail, or any other service that relies on a BlackBerry data plan.

Is this definate?

Do i need to tick any options so it only connects to free wifi, and doesent connect through the PAYG sim card, because i dont want to be paying for it

Cheers

Craig

Yes, it is definite. You will NOT have the data services that you do now from your PAYG carrier or WiFi.

Your device will not connect at all to your PAYG carrier's data service unless you add it specifically in TCP/IP settings, and even then, as I have mentioned, you will NOT have BlackBerry service.

Don't listen to these Americans who know nothing about using BB's off a plan.

Check out member 'Woodyuk' thread about how to run a BB handset WITHOUT a data plan.

I use it all the time. Note - it does not give you access to BIS/BES so you cannot get BB push email but can download Funabol or Shangmail. You cannot us instant message programs either as they use BIS/BES.

Plenty of good local SIM provider with data allowances here.

Enjoy Australia!

Wirelessly posted

You haven't said anything different. If you want to use blackberry- or RIM-branded data services, you must have a blackberry data plan. That was stated above. You can use some third-party data applications without a blackberry data plan, just not the native and add-on blackberry data apps. That was also stated above. It is also addressed at http://www.blackberryfaq.com.

Sod off. Just because I am American doesn't mean I don't know anything about BlackBerry devices without plans.

BlackBerry services DO NOT work without BlackBerry data plans. You are talking about workarounds, which are NOT BlackBerry services.