[allie83]

Hi Guys,
I’m sorry for asking such a simple question – but I’m so confused.
I have had my Blackberry Storm for almost a year now, and I was told that BBM was a free way to talk to your friends who also had a Blackberry. So now I’m really confused as people keep mentioning data plans etc.

I’m in the UK and am on the Vodafone £35 plan, which apparently gives me “unlimited texts, unlimited Mobile Internet and unlimited email.” I want to bb message my friend in the US – would this cost me? Would this cost her? Does it depend on her plan?

What’s the point of bbm if it isn’t free? I honestly thought the whole point of bbm was that it let you communicate with other blackberry users free of charge.

I’m obviously fairly dumb when it comes to this stuff, so please answer this as if I have only just landed on this planet lol. Thanks =)

[aiharkness]

First, you must have a blackberry data plan. Not a generic data plan, either; but a specific blacberry data plan. Do you have that?

If you have a blackberry data plan, it may, of course, be bundled with your monthly service fee, or added on. It may be capped, or unlimited (or "unlimited" with a soft cap).

Blackberry Messenger uses data. You are paying for the data sevice; but not for the individual messages.

So, you can send a blackberry messenger message to another user who also has blackberry data service and a blackberry, for "free" and it only charges against your montly data allotment.

[allie83]

Hiya, thanks for your reply.
I went in and spoke to someone at Vodafone today, and they said my blackberry messages are included in my plan - it's just my friend in the US who isn't sure. She was told she would have to pay, even though she has unlimited internet. She's with Verizon... I know the US do things differently to us, so I'm not sure what to tell her.

[aiharkness]

Wirelessly posted (8820)

Either your friend was told wrong, or your friend misunderstood.

If she has blackberry data service, she will not be charged additionally for blackberry messenger messages beyond what she already pays for data service, not even on Verizon.