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NordicBB · 03-28-2006, 06:09 AM

I have Blackberry users in our company travelling to Qatar. but it seems like none of the carriers they use (T-mobile and Vodafone) has any roaming agreement with a carrier in Qatar. Are there any carriers around with roaming agreemens so their Blackberry service will work there?

dc/dc · 03-28-2006, 07:34 PM

There are voice roaming agreements with both T-Mobile USA and Vodafone (UK at least), both of which I have tested. In my testing though, I could not use any data features, and thus no BlackBerry. QTel (Qatar Telecom, the state-owned telco and mobile provider) itself does not offer BlackBerry service.

My testing was done with a BlackBerry 7105t, Nokia 7260, Nokia 6630 and Motorola RAZR. On the latter 3, I recieved no indication, as I normally would, that GPRS was available. I also only received "GSM" on my 7105t, again indicating no GPRS roaming.

Now, on my HalaTalk pre-paid card from QTel, I did have the "G" icon on my 7260 indicating GPRS as available, but I did not have the proper APN info for my service to set up WAP access.

So to answer your question, no, I do not think there is any carrier in the world with a roaming agreement to allow BlackBerry roaming on QTel.

TheRFGuy · 04-03-2006, 11:26 PM

I don't believe they have launched their data service yet. They are building out their GPRS and should be available in summery 06. fyi

astcell · 04-11-2006, 09:18 PM

I checked the TMO web page and GMRS is available in Qatar now.

It wasn't last month.

astcell · 04-16-2006, 05:55 PM

Okay, that was a TMO error. They tell me that there is no data available in Qatar, but Cingular says they have data. Hmmm.

NJBlackBerry · 04-16-2006, 06:27 PM

According to GSMWorld, there is no GPRS network in Qatar.

http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/net_qaqt.shtml

Voice roaming agreements in place with both Cingular and T-Mobile.

dc/dc · 04-16-2006, 10:02 PM

When I was there in December, they were advertising the launch of WAP service, but as I mentioned in my previous post, it was not operational for roamers.

kaiser5614 · 04-17-2006, 05:48 AM

Hello Sir,

I have a blaskberry phone, Please tell me how to unlock it!!!! Thanks!

dc/dc · 04-17-2006, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaiser5614

Hello Sir,

I have a blaskberry phone, Please tell me how to unlock it!!!! Thanks!

Sir, please make use of the search function on this forum to search for hints about unlocking the BlackBerry device.

Additionally, this is not the correct forum for this topic, and it is not proper to post a question like this in thread on another subject.

Thank you for your understanding.

Stinsonddog · 04-17-2006, 09:57 AM

Kaiser,dc/dc is correct. Please look at the list of forums and post in the correct one if you want a quicker response. Also the search function will find alot of results for "unlock". It makes for a better community.

-

Quote:

Originally Posted by dc/dc

Sir, please make use of the search function on this forum to search for hints about unlocking the BlackBerry device.

Additionally, this is not the correct forum for this topic, and it is not proper to post a question like this in thread on another subject.

Thank you for your understanding.

astcell · 04-17-2006, 10:20 PM

Hmmm on the Cingular page for Qatar it says that voice, data, and 2-way text messaging are all available. I would sure hate to buy something based on an incorrect web page.

http://tinyurl.com/nquqp

dc/dc · 04-18-2006, 06:32 AM

T-Mobile says that as well, but I am telling you from personal experience that it does not work. I tried with multiple devices.

Edit: It should be noted that my customer had Cingular with a RAZR, and he did not even receive indication that GPRS was available.

astcell · 04-18-2006, 05:24 PM

Wow. And to think my purchase is based on what they have on the web! Rats! Thanks dc/dc!

dc/dc · 04-18-2006, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astcell

Wow. And to think my purchase is based on what they have on the web! Rats! Thanks dc/dc!

Don't believe everything you read.

Anyway, I highly recommend purchasing a local QTel HalaTalk pre-paid card for voice. It costs about $55, but your calls back to the states are a few pennies per minute as opposed to $2.99, and SMS is dirt cheap. I kept my work phone turned on for people to call me on, but I made most of my calls from my QTel phone. Also really helped for my local business contacts to have a local number to call.

Another thing that should be noted is roaming is very quirky in Qatar. I have T-Mobile, and had no problem calling any number in the States, or other T-Mobile roamers in Qatar. However, I would have to try anywhere from 2-10 times to reach my customer (if I reached him at all), who had Cingular. I also had trouble calling Cingular phones in the States. The same problems occurred in the other direction too. Each attempt eats a minute because the call is technically completed.

astcell · 04-23-2006, 08:57 PM

FWIW, two co-workers ust went to Qatar and are there now with TMO. They have full Internet, email and voice available on it. They are not tethered (boo! Low tech!) but when I get there I will find out for everyone pronto.

Jamesws · 06-01-2006, 06:37 AM

I'm sat in Qatar as I type roaming with my Blackberry 8700c. My "home" network is Cingular. I've had no trouble at all with roaming, i'm constantly connected to GRPS and my mails are coming in nicely.

My problem is that I can't get my local QTEL post paid SIMM card working for data, all I get is "Data Connection Refused" The local APN here is web.qtel i'm entering this under the TCP / APN settings but no luck. I can however connect and browse using my Sony Ericsson K750 no problem with the same settings using the same SIMM card..... strange.

Anybody got any ideas?

zarza · 06-08-2006, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamesws

I'm sat in Qatar as I type roaming with my Blackberry 8700c. My "home" network is Cingular. I've had no trouble at all with roaming, i'm constantly connected to GRPS and my mails are coming in nicely.

My problem is that I can't get my local QTEL post paid SIMM card working for data, all I get is "Data Connection Refused" The local APN here is web.qtel i'm entering this under the TCP / APN settings but no luck. I can however connect and browse using my Sony Ericsson K750 no problem with the same settings using the same SIMM card..... strange.

Anybody got any ideas?

You won't get any SIM without BlackBerry service attached to work in a BB. The BB cannot function as simply a wap browsing phone.

wcberry · 06-20-2006, 05:24 AM

On my recent trip to Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi and UAE, my Cingular 8700 FULLY worked in all countries except Saudi, where only voice and text worked. This was using the Cingular SIM. I did use a MTC SIM (My BB is unlocked) in Kuwait for a while so I could have a local number. Voice and Text worked with that SIM but no data as expected. It also works in Amsterdam and Frankfurt for those flying through those airports.

Oh and it is finally warming up over there now.

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