I have a 7130c on Cingular that's running app version 4.1.0.351 from one of the Asian carriers (I forget which one). Cingular's version is 4.1.0.321.

Anyway, over the last few weeks I've noticed my blackberry stuck in GPRS while I'm at work. Previously I got EDGE coverage all the time. Usually a simple turn off/turn on wireless would resolve the problem.

But, during the nationwide outaqge on Monday, I was stuck in gprs and could not get back to EDGE after the outage. The first CS rep I spoke with suggested that I replace my SIM card. The IS guys at work gave me a new SIM card and I called up to activate it.

The second CS rep I spoke with refused, at first, to activate, insisting on trying a number of other troubleshoots - this pissed me off because I'd already tried all of them, but I did it anyway. Then I begged him to just activate the new SIM card.

At this point he tried to claim that my problem was being caused by that fact that I had loaded another carrier's OS on my device. I politely told him that he was wrong. He wanted me to downgrade to Cingular's OS (which would have resulted in a 30 minute Enterprise activation, as I'm on a BES) After negotiating for about 15 minutes, I finally got him to activate the new SIM card.

Of course, this solved the problem right away and I haven't lost EDGE since.

QUESTION: Is there any possibility that loading another carrier's OS could result in connection issues? I strongly doubt it, but I'm not 100 percent sure.

QUESTION: Was my old SIM just damaged, or is there something in the process of activating a new SIM (i.e., new tower info) that solved the problem.

QUESTION: Why are CS reps force you to try things you've already done to troubleshoot a problem. Is there anyone that would claim they've tried something (battery pull, toggle on/of wireless, etc.) that they didn't really try. This makes my CS calls for lots of technology take 10 times longer than they have to.

Yes, it's 100% possible that loading another carrier's OS onto your handheld could cause issues with network reception. It really just depends. The OS itself is not the issue, it's the platform/radio code. Cingular could have implemented a change to the radio code that would affect only that particular tower, to be perfectly honest.

If you want the advantages of a new OS update but retain the platform/radio code for the Cingular network, then take the rim7130g.sfi from the \GPRS folder of the Cingular OS and copy it to the \GPRS folder of the other carrier's OS. It will likely tell you that it's downgrading the System Software when you open Application Loader.

They are paid to do their job as they were trained and according to script. These days, more than 75% of the time when you call into first tier support with pretty much anyone, be it a carrier (T-Mobile, Cingular, etc) or an ISP (EarthLink, AOL, etc) or anyone with an inbound/outbound call center, you're not talking to someone who's physically employed by that entity. Instead, they are outsourced call centers, be it in America or India or Mexico, that handle low-level support calls. These are effective in the sense that they follow a script, to the tee, and escalate to higher level support specialists (who are employed by the entity) only when their efforts have been exhausted. The costs of these outsourced companies are VASTLY cheaper than hiring and training and offering benefits to an actual employee (in the case of India or Mexico call centers, the cost benefits are astronomically different). In most cases, if a call was escalated to higher levels of support, in spite of the fact that the issue could/should have been resolved by the outsourced agent, then the company who does the first level support could be penalized. Also, there are financial benefits for the outsourced company as well, in terms of minutes to bill the other entity, resolutions provided to the entity w/o escalation, etc.

Is this bad for the customer? Depends on how you look at it. On one hand, your overall experience could be hindered (Verizon, anyone?), but on the other hand, more money for the provider/carrier could mean more money to spend making the services they offer or their networks better.

Like it or not, outsourcing low-level jobs to resolve issues involving costs for training, insurance and benefits, salaries, etc. is the way of the world these days.