[AL904]

The Blackberries have disappeared from Earthlink's Wireless Products web page.

That page only lists Treo 650s and Samsung A560s.

I searched for any news regarding Earthlink discontinuing Blackberries, but found nothing. Does anybody know what's going on with them?

[gabeosx]

Look at the image for wireless accessories... interesting.

[Silentknight]

Originally Posted by AL904

The Blackberries have disappeared from Earthlink's Wireless Products web page.

That page only lists Treo 650s and Samsung A560s.

I searched for any news regarding Earthlink discontinuing Blackberries, but found nothing. Does anybody know what's going on with them?

Well, I posed that question to Earthlink's blogger< David Costan. Our exchange was as follows:

I said:
Hi Dave. Nice blog. As a current Earthlink Bkackberry user, I would like a full explanation regarding the cessation of Blackberry device sales by Earthlink. I would also like to know how long Earthlink will support these devices. I am refering to the new (4/05) Blackberry 7250 devices, not the old 957 devices. When these PDAs were rolled out by Earthlink in April, 2005, a big deal was made of the desire to expand Earthlink's Blackberry user base. Stopping sales of the device, and not informing users of future intentions is not a good way to go about this. With Earthlink and RIM both being big players in the wireless email market, I would consider this to be news worthy of any tech weblog.
Thanks.

He said:
Darryl: Thank you for posting a comment on the blog. I appreciate your concerns.
As far as your specific questions about which products will be supported, I'm looking in to them for you.
As far as the more general concerns, I'd like you to e-mail me at earthling (at) blogs.earthlink.net with as much detail as you can, and I'll pass it along to the relevant parties.
I want to emphasize that I can't guarantee that any specific action will be taken as a result, but at least I can help pass your thoughts along.

He said:
Hi again Darryl - I've shared your comment with the Wireless folks and I have some information to pass along. This is from Greg Roberts, Senior Director of Marketing Strategy:
--
Thank you for your note. EarthLink Wireless made a strategic decision
to discontinue the sales of the Blackberry product for one main reason:
our EarthLink customers told us they were interested in other wireless
products. Part of our success as a company has been listening to our
customers and providing products and services that best fit their needs.
In this particular instance, our loyal EarthLink customer base has
indicated it's time to shift our product portfolio to cater to more
general wireless products, thus we recently introduced the Samsung A560
wireless phone that, initially, has been very well received.
EarthLink Wireless will continue to support our Blackberry customers
with exceptional technical support and customer service. Customer
satisfaction is very important to us and our Blackberry and Treo
customers will continue to experience the high level of support that we
offer today.

There you have it.....

[AL904]

Thanks, for checking into that, Silentknight. I have to say that I'm very disappointed. I wonder how many of us Earthlin/Blackberry 7250 users are out here.

I guess the good news is that my one-year contract will probably expire before Earthlink starts slacking off on their service to Blackberry customers.

[AL904]

Now, I'm wondering what to do next. It seems pretty clear that Earthlink won't offer us 7250 users software upgrades. I was hoping to get access to Verizon's faster EvDO network, and the improvements in the recent and future firmware upgrades.

Are there other Earthlink 7250 users here that want to share their plans or ideas ? I hate the idea of paying Earthlink an ETF to cancel service, so I could move to Verizon now. Would my 7250 operate in a (direct with) Verizon Blackberry account?

[crisambo]

Originally Posted by AL904

Now, I'm wondering what to do next. It seems pretty clear that Earthlink won't offer us 7250 users software upgrades. I was hoping to get access to Verizon's faster EvDO network, and the improvements in the recent and future firmware upgrades.

Are there other Earthlink 7250 users here that want to share their plans or ideas ? I hate the idea of paying Earthlink an ETF to cancel service, so I could move to Verizon now. Would my 7250 operate in a (direct with) Verizon Blackberry account?

Our company subscribed to Earthlink's blackberry service from 1999 until recently. As early as January 2005, Earthlink reps has indicated then that technology upgrades may keep then from continuing to provide the BB service. . . . we started using Nextel & TMO BB's spring 2005 and just recently laid RIM 950s and 957s to rest.

We looked at Earthlink's Treo 650s but it didn't make the grade. We found TMO to be the most cost effective for our applications. Nextel is used by certain pro's in our organization for the 2-way DC and GPS capability.

[AL904]

Thanks, crisambo,

However, I want to increase my data speed. I have used both T-Mo and Nextel data, and both are slower than my current 1x with Earthlink/Verizon. I wouldn't mind taking my 7250 to Verizon if they would let me do that.

[crisambo]

Originally Posted by AL904

Thanks, crisambo,

However, I want to increase my data speed. I have used both T-Mo and Nextel data, and both are slower than my current 1x with Earthlink/Verizon. I wouldn't mind taking my 7250 to Verizon if they would let me do that.

the device itself is compatible to Verizon's service. . . I believe that they'll let you use your device as a replacement to an exiting service, you just need to make sure that you get your BB PIN provisioned over to Verizon from Earthlink.

[katya]

Bummer! I was sooo glad to get away from Verizon's concept of customer service when I switched to Earthlink. Three of my colleagues switched from Verizon to Earthlink for their BBs based on my rave reviews. Urgh!