[e40sixnole]

[rcg]

[Mark Rejhon]

[finch]

[tkelly]

Our company (U.S. Ski Team) is looking to purchase a number of Blackberry units to use exclusively in Europe. The primary usage area will be Italy, for a three-week event this February and for the Olympics next year.

We want to have both voice and data service, accessing our POP3 email server. I'm looking at both the 6230 and 7230. RIM's site indicates that only the 7230 will work in Italy. The most convenient service provider for us to use is probably TIM, and using prepaid cards would be easiest.

Can anyone share their similar experiences, look for potential problems we might encounter, etc. I'm especially concerned if using prepaid SIMs will work for both voice and data.

Thanks for your help.

[bfrye]

Prepaid TMO sims here in the US haven't worked for data for me. Phone and SMS services have been great though

[NJBlackBerry]

If they are for dedicated use, I would buy them from TIM with TIM SIM cards. Using prepaid cards has been painful - I've never gotten one to work with BB (in Europe).

[eightwire]

A Prepaid SIM from Vodafone NZ worked for voice and e-mail on my unlocked 7100t in New Zealand (far from europe obviously, but proof of concept with prepay).

[chicagoscott8]

I used a chip from my sisters Orange account in France as well as my own SIM card (unlocked) from TMobile. The Orange SIM allowed me to make calls but my own TMobile SIM card allowed me to make calls and receive my email. Calls were $0.99 US per minute so not cheap but it worked fine. Received many calls from friends both in the US and in France and UK while there.