Oceania (Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific) - New Zealand Sim Card for Blackberry

I will be in New Zealand for a month and wanted to get a local sim card for both data and voice. Don't plan to call back home -- just use it to call for activities or directions etc.

However, I would like to be able to access emails and the internet while down there.

We will be on the North and South Islands.

Which company should I look into for connectivity first and price second?

Telecom charges $30 for a SIM card and that has $10 credit on it and that can be used for a one month plan that costs $20 with a value pack including 20 talk minutes and 200mg data. There is an additional $25 for 500 mg of data that can be purchased.

I could not quite figure out the vodaphone costs

As for 2 degrees -- I thought somewhere I had read that they had a smaller network and when you were out of network it was a lot more expensive.

And does getting a new sim card mean I have to set the phone up all over again? ie -- will my emails and other items be there or will it be gone with the removal of the original sim card. I am on Verizon here and the sim card is not used for anything as far as I know.

Also -- I want to be sure that in LAX I turn off my phone completely so that it will not wake up and try to access the Verizon system enroute. How do I do that? Should I remove the battery until I get to a place to purchase the sim card?

Thanks much!

I will be in New Zealand for a month and wanted to get a local sim card for both data and voice. Don't plan to call back home -- just use it to call for activities or directions etc.

However, I would like to be able to access emails and the internet while down there.

We will be on the North and South Islands.

Which company should I look into for connectivity first and price second?

Telecom charges $30 for a SIM card and that has $10 credit on it and that can be used for a one month plan that costs $20 with a value pack including 20 talk minutes and 200mg data. There is an additional $25 for 500 mg of data that can be purchased.

I could not quite figure out the vodaphone costs

As for 2 degrees -- I thought somewhere I had read that they had a smaller network and when you were out of network it was a lot more expensive.

And does getting a new sim card mean I have to set the phone up all over again? ie -- will my emails and other items be there or will it be gone with the removal of the original sim card. I am on Verizon here and the sim card is not used for anything as far as I know.

Also -- I want to be sure that in LAX I turn off my phone completely so that it will not wake up and try to access the Verizon system enroute. How do I do that? Should I remove the battery until I get to a place to purchase the sim card?

Thanks much!

You need to check your current BB will work on Telecom / Vodafone networks - I think you might be better with Telecom as it uses CDMA technology (same as Verizon); Vodafone is GSM/WCDMA. I think!

BlackBerry services identify your device by its PIN (8-digit alphanumeric thing), so as long as you manage to get a BB-compatible service, you shouldn't need to switch anything in your phone.

That's all the help I can give for now! :-(

One thing you could do before you go is to switch of data roaming - this will stop your phone trying to connect back to Verizon; alternatively (better), you can just switch off the mobile network (how to do this depends on which model you have). This means you can still use it with wifi access, and to listen to music or whatever else you use it for!

even though it is a bb it does have a removeable sim card and is a world capable phone. O believe it is the bold 9930 I have.

What I did do was look to see if the networks have bb for sale. 2 degrees doesn't but both vodaphone and telecom do so I woul think I am safe with either of those companies.

If the coverage of both companies is similar then I just need to figure out the cost for the service and time I am there.

I am thinking I may take the battery out of the phone in LA and not put it in until the sum card is replaced to ensure it does not try to turn on the Verizin network.

Thanks for your help!

I don't think the VzW BlackBerrys are unlocked SIMwise - I've tried putting a foreign SIM in my 9650 and it didn't work, but I didn't try particularly hard.

I don't think any of the major networks in NZ offer pre-pay BlackBerry plans any more (I believe Telecom did a while ago, but I don't see the offer any longer).

You may be better off just enabling a data-roaming pack with VzW and using that plus WiFi, if keeping BlackBerry capability is important to you. I'm still on the unlimited plan, but you could look into the 50MB/150MB/300MB plans.

Note: Telecom New Zealand operates a WCDMA (3G/UMTS) network at 850MHz. They also operate a legacy CDMA (1xRTT) network that does not support inbound data roaming, and is being turned off in 2012.

Vodafone operates a 2G GSM (900) and 3G WCDMA/UMTS (900/2100) network.

2degrees operates a 2G GSM (900) and 3G WCDMA (2100) network, however outside of their coverage areas users will roam onto Vodafone.

I don't think the VzW BlackBerrys are unlocked SIMwise - I've tried putting a foreign SIM in my 9650 and it didn't work, but I didn't try particularly hard[/FONT].

Did you get Verizon to unlock the sim card first?

I have never had a phone unlocked before -- is the data plan for a BB different from a data plan? I know that Vodaphone and Telecom do include BB's on their permanent plans so would have thought that it would not be a problem but then have never done this before so was looking to find out what I need to consider -- will try to find this out.

Thanks

Did you get Verizon to unlock the sim card first?
No - like I said I didn't try particularly hard. I've no idea whether they'll unlock these sorts of devices given the tight coupling between the CDMA and GSM functionality: it isn't really a GSM phone, rather a CDMA phone that can use GSM when roaming with all manner of backend tricks.

I have never had a phone unlocked before -- is the data plan for a BB different from a data plan? I know that Vodaphone and Telecom do include BB's on their permanent plans so would have thought that it would not be a problem but then have never done this before so was looking to find out what I need to consider -- will try to find this out.
Yes, it's different. Regular data plans just give Internet access, and no access to the blackberry.net APN that you need to make BES or BIS functionality work. This includes the web browser not working, although if you install Opera you can still browse using only a data plan, but the rest of your BlackBerry functionality will not work (unless you are on WiFi).

An alternative might be to get a 2degrees/Telecom/Vodafone MiFi device that you can share amongst all your devices - this would give your BlackBerry access to the Internet (and BB services) via WiFi, as well as laptop/iPad anything else - and you could use Skype for calling. I have a friend who does this when traveling from NZ to the US.

I'm sure that TNZ did allow prepaid BlackBerry plans at one stage shortly after the XT network introduction, but I can't see it available any longer unfortunately.

No - like I said I didn't try particularly hard. I've no idea whether they'll unlock these sorts of devices given the tight coupling between the CDMA and GSM functionality: it isn't really a GSM phone, rather a CDMA phone that can use GSM when roaming with all manner of backend tricks.




There are companies that you can pay about $15 and they can send you the unlock code for your phone. Years ago I did that when living in New Zealand for awhile. You simply need to make 100% sure the phone is capable of functioning on the correct frequencies and be sure you have a solid phone charger that will work without blowing up your phone. :)

I have heard back from Vodaphone but not Telecom and I have talked to Verizon

The vodaphone sim card will allow me to make voice calls and do texts but not access email or the internet. There is wifi in the bb phone so I could get access that way.

Additionally we will have our nookcolor with us and just got a n2and card which changes it into a full android tablet -- pretty neat. But still dependent on wifi.

If I leave it as verizon then I will have a US phone number which presents a problem when dealing with local people. I would have access to emails and internet for $30 for 50 gb which would be all I would use -- do not upload photos or anything else like that. But phone calls would cost $1.99 per minute and texts are .50 each so it gets pricey

I did not realize that a bb would be much more difficult that another phone or I might have purchased a different one but not going to do that now. So I am stuck withese options -- pay verizon's higher fees and make the new zealand businesses pay international rates to contact me or switch to a local sim card with a local number and rely on wireless where I am staying for internet access.

Remember the days when we traveled before internet and cell phones and we just used pay phones or waited until we got somewhere -- if we weren't reachable for a day it was understood