[o2mpx]

Hope someone can help as I just moved over to ATT from Tmo:

It seems to be a $69.99/month (! a lot more expensive than Tmo!) add-on? So before I leave for overseas, I can add but upon return, can I cancel just like what I've done with Tmo? And will ATT prorate the usage as Tmo does?

[scaevola]

From what I understand, I believe so. You can activate before you go abroad and then deactivate it when you come back. I don't think they prorate it you don't spend a full month there. I think its a flat fee. It's unlimited data right? And voice is like $1.25 a minute? (do you know)? Considering going abroad for a month in the next year and only gonna use pim/email to $$ otherwise!. I hear sms is cheap there ...when you activate it internationally they unlock your phone iirc. So you could use a local sim if you want.

somewhere in the contract, it states inorder to unlock international I believe you have to be in good standing for 3 or 6 months. I believe its three, I just can't remember offhand.

[LarryH]

No longer. AT&T now requires (for data only) that, if you take the $69 international plan, you must keep it for a year. Bummer. But I'm in England right now and just went through that dance. Voice plans can be changed and pro-rated, etc.

[arthurhumphrey]

I asked them about this about 2 weeks ago when I signed on, and they said it could be turned on and off, prorated.

I hope you are mistaken, LarryH. Anyone know definitively?

[BryanHarig]

Larry is correct. You must keep it for at least 1 year.

[o2mpx]

So ATT sucks if the 69.99 is required to be kept on for 1year. If so, I guess I will not be using the BB overseas for email.

Instead maybe I should buy a local SIM card and use pop3 email, would that work?

[arthurhumphrey]

How does it work if I don't use the international BB plan? Will BB still push my email to me while I am abroad, but at int'l roaming data prices? Or does my BB just become a thick phone?

[BryanHarig]

AFAIK you can either:

do nothing and have the BB not work at all.

Add international voice roaming at no charge and pay per min for calls.

Add internation data roaming and have unlimited email in the US and internationally for $69.99/month and pay per min for calls.

[LarryH]

If you leave the data on when roaming (you can turn it off) you'll still receive email but at higher roaming rates. Someone in another thread said that he used his phone a lot overseas and it came to about $200 more. He claimed for his infrequent travels it was worth it, rather than paying the extra $$s all year.

See here

[scaevola]

Originally Posted by BryanHarig

Larry is correct. You must keep it for at least 1 year.

that's outrageous. I'm now seriously considering turing in my curve and waiting for tmobile..which you can activate. Any idea when this changed? I was looking late last year and it could be turned on and off. My agent said the same thing when I got my curve on 6/2

What's tmobile plan? Same crap? Can anyone say. I may just return my curve and buy one outright and grab tmobile..That's INSANE!

[takeshi]

It changed fairly recently.

Originally Posted by o2mpx

Instead maybe I should buy a local SIM card and use pop3 email, would that work?

Nope. You need a local SIM with Blackberry data. It's nearly impossible to find BB data on prepaid. Even if you do, if you're a BIS user you'd have to delete your BIS account here in the US and then set up BIS with the new carrier (and reverse the change when you get back).

[BryanHarig]

Originally Posted by scaevola

that's outrageous. I'm now seriously considering turing in my curve and waiting for tmobile..which you can activate. Any idea when this changed? I was looking late last year and it could be turned on and off. My agent said the same thing when I got my curve on 6/2

What's tmobile plan? Same crap? Can anyone say. I may just return my curve and buy one outright and grab tmobile..That's INSANE!

T-mobile does not have the same requirement. Infact on of the first things the rep will ask when you call to add the $20/month BB international email plan is "from what day to what day will you need the service". They will even set it up to automatically be removed from your account on the specified day.

If t-mobile offers good coverage in your area I would definately recomend them over at&t.

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[hmong]

I was told in the store you cna switch it on/off when you travel. In my past experience, everything is negotiable with these guys.

[arthurhumphrey]

This thread represents ATT's policy on this very well--contradictary and confusing.

[BryanHarig]

^^ Their policy is very clear. International email requires a 1yr commitment to that data plan.

Their employees are not all on the same page unfortunately.

Anyone why signs up with the assumption that you will be able to switch off the international email at will, get it in writing. At least then when it becomes an issue later you will have a paper trail for your complaint.