Hello all,

I am thinking of getting the Blackberry Bold from ATT when it comes out on 11/4. According to the ATT press release, the Bold will be $299 with a "qualifying plan"

What exactly are the "qualifying plan" options?

Can get the $300 Bold by signing up just for the $35/month Blackberry Personal data plan only (with a 2-year commitment, of course)? Or is a Voice plan required?

If a voice plan is required then it may make more financial sense for me to get an unlocked Blackberry Bold off ebay and sign up for the $35/month plan on a month-to-month basis. I don't need the voice plan and just want to use the Bold for email/internet as well as for tethering.

Thanks in advance for your response.

It sounds like that would work, spending the $35/month for data only. I'm not 100% sure, though.

Wirelessly posted

That might work, I know Tmobile it does because the Sidekick used to be very popular amongst the deaf community. Obviously they never signed up for voice plans

Why not call ATT and ask?

I am trying to find out for the OP

Rebate requires voiceplan as well as BB data plan

Because ATT customer service reps are usually the last to know about anything related to future products and promotions.

In any case, I don't need to know the exact details. Based on people's experiences with previous Blackberry promotions similar to the Bold, is a voice plan usually required? There is no reason why the Bold "qualifying plan" wouldn't be the same as previous "qualifying plan" for older models when they first came out.

all the other blackberries' "qualifying plans" have been a voice plan and the unlimited BIS plan, which is 30/mo here in the US as an add-on to a voice plan. add in text messaging with that if applicable and you're looking at a $90/mo phone bill, same thing i'm paying for my curve.

i don't see why the bold would qualify any different from any other blackberry released

If my memory serves me Tmobile has/had a data plan separate from their voice plan. Of course it was more expensive than their data plan with voice. An unlocked Bold would work with Tmobile, you just leave it on 2g (no 3g with Tmob).
Worth a look if you're set against paying for voice.

why not just buy a data card? they're free from AT&T after mail-in rebate, 60 dollars per month, comes out to 1440, less than the price of an ebay phone with standalone BIS plan for 2 years ;)

Thanks for the info. It looks like it may be cheaper for me to get an unlocked phone from ebay and sign up for the $35/month unlimited data plan from ATT. I only need the internet 3G functionality and not voice.

As for the data card, I don't want to lug my laptop around with me. I prefer my internet in the Blackberry form factor and I can use that as a bluetooth tether for my Macbook Pro if necessary.

I was told by an AT&T Customer Service Representitive that my Family Talk Plan would be a qualifing plan if I purchased a $30.00 per month unlimited data plan on top of my family talk plan. Wether or not he knows for sure is unknown, ill find out on the 4th.

Yeah I've also asked about the Bold, and it seems that the unlimited data plan, my family plan should suffice if I decide to go with it.

what happens if I alreay has unlimited data?