Here is one that will either have me ridiculed or create some interesting discussion. As some of you know, I have been somewhat vocal about unlocking my 8700c and using it while working in Belgium. The challenge is that my company has established a permanent SIM and number with MobiStar. MobiStar customer service is suggesting that I must "close" my Rogers BlackBerry Internet account in order to activate my MobiStar BlackBerry Interent email account. While this does not seem like much, the fact is that I mostly work in NA. The roaming would be rediculous. Does anyone out there have some thoughts on this? I may need to do an "de-activate/activate" number everytime I travel the Europe which would suck.

BES or BIS?

BIS. I spoke with BB tech support at Rogers. They seem to think that it should work as long as the MobiStar carrier gives data (read: GPRS or EDGE) to the SIM card. Evidently it would be easier with BES.

ok, I'll be the ass.

If you're rich enough to hop between Belgium and Canada at a regular enough basis to warrant the need for 2 separate wireless email accounts then you make more than enough money to buy another blackberry on top of that SIM card.

You are not "the ass" as you put it. And I take no offense. I am an employee of the company and am only concerned with managing the costs (like any corporate minded individual would). Having 2 devices would mean managing two of everything. - meaning synchronizing will be a bit of a pain albeit doable As I dont have an exec-assistant to do this I would begin to feel like Noah (read: of the ark). As I always love a good challenge, I am really interested in finding a simple turnkey solution.

According to the tier support tech at Roger. BIS on Roger should theoretically pick up the unit even if it is on MobiStar as long as MobiStar has the capitalized GPRS or EDGE which indicates the unit as on the data network. I have tried it with the MobiStar SIM this afternoon here in Toronto and it was still only registering in GSM. I have fired off an email to the Cust Serv. rep as MobiStar to look into it and will update the thread as more becomes evident.

I do however like your sense of humor though. Cheers.

The easiest solution may be to subscribe to a hosted BES. My understanding is that it is not dependant on the carrier.

BES is the ultimate solution. I need to convince my company to get it on the Exchange Server. I agree and for the time being, it remains a fun challenge.

When I had my first blackberry, it ran on Cingular BIS while I subscribed with Rogers, and all my mail made it to me no problem.

I assume that it doesn't matter which carrier you have the BIS with, as long as Modistar allows you access to the Blackberry network, you should still be able to get your mail.

What about Cingular's Unlimited International Data Plan?

If you do a lot of work in USA, you might be able to qualify for that sort of thing...

That is a great point. My homebase is Toronto and I will see over the next couple of months how my travelling trends out before making any changes. Thanks for the advice.

Sounds pretty much like the Rogers Tier 3 Tech Support indicate. Thanks Ref18

A hosted solution will run you under $25 a month. Perhaps in the interim that is a solution that meets your needs without breakingthe bank.

Quick update:

MobiStar completed the full activation of the card. I was able to get EDGE (as opposed to edge) on the Rogers network) and also able to send an Internet Service book - all from the same Rogers Portal (BIS). "This concludes our program for the evening...."

The common RIM platform seems to have taken care of everything. Thank you RIM.