I am going to Europe for 3 weeks. I want to use my BB but not my phone as Rogers charges over $2 per min to use your cell phone... how do I shutoff my cell phone service while I am there? I also believe that if I don't pickup the phone and let it go to VM I still get charged....

thanks.

Why not talk to your carrier?

as most of the CSR's are morons and I am sure the members of this forum prob have better and more accurate info.

Do they offer data service without voice?

You can get double-charged at the roaming rate for calls that go to voicemail as they might bill you for the call going overseas and for the return call back home to the voicemail center (due to the way GSM is set up).

Not a very fair statement IMHO. I have had good results talking to CSRs. Granted some are buffoons but most know their stuff.

Comment about CSRs are always interesting, but the answer to the acual question posted is interesting too.

Call forwarding is the easiest way to do it. Make sure you forward ALL calls to your home phone or some other phone number. If you forward to your BBphone's voice mail, you will get dinged for voicemail notification, etc.

Also, most carriers need you to tell them you are going out of country so they can turn on (for free, usually) the international data aspect. So you will still need to speak to a CSR, heehee.

Good luck, LizL

Not familiar with Rogers, but with T-Mobile you can turn on unlimited international data for $19.95/mo. Otherwise, it's $15 per MB. It's prorated, so I turn it on when user leaves and set reminder to turn off upon return stateside.

Cingular offers the same $20 unlimited International BB feature. It is an add-on to the domestic BB cost.

If you're going to be based in one Europe country then make sure you get your device unlocked from your carrier before you leave. If you like then you can buy a pre-paid sim card at lots of shops and then you're only paying local rates for phone service. Receiving calls is free as well.

lots of people on extended stays or who travel regularly do this.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7290/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

Yes, I've heard this is quite common for extended stays- I've also heard that sometimes a carrier can be sympathetic and unlock the phone for you- or you can go to the dark net and pay something like $50 to email your code and get an unlock key.

How would the data part of the BlackBerry work with a foreign SIM card? Not at all or ok?
Thanks,

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7290/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

With a pay-per-use SIM card internationally, with usual GPRS data work with the BlackBerry ok, or is that charged differently or?