Using BB Playbook in Europe
 

Hi,

Does anyone know if the Playbook can be used with a European service provider? I read that there were some initial issues 'bridging' from the playbook to an AT&T blackberry so I was wondering whether it's possible to 'bridge' to a service provider in another country in order to read email on the tablet.

Thanks!

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In theory it should work fine. I believe att is just doing more extensive testing

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In theory it should work fine. I believe att is just doing more extensive testing

many of the stories I've seen have said AT&T is just all pissy because they won't get their $20 fee to tether it to the blackberry.

Supposedly, AT&T is able to see if customers are tethering to smart phones and has started asking them to pay the fee. The bridge app on the blackberry supposedly makes both devices appear as one, so AT&T can't tell if it's one device or not, and can't charge.

It's just a matter of if the service provider is taking the same stance AT&T did by blocking the app.

Bridging is supposedly legal. You are basically downloading data to the phone and syncing the data.

ATT is going after iPhone users right now who tether. They don't seem to be going after Android or Blackberry. My guess is that they are packet sniffing and don't have the confidence to call a "cheat" on these users. PDANet, by the way, has just upgraded their iPhone net to hide their tether application from ATT. It looks like it dynamically modifies the packets to make them appear as if they were from an iPhone.

AT&T did indeed block bridge apps and is now charging customers their tethering fee with the latest AT&T verion of the BB Bridge app. Of course, some customers are just downloading the non-AT&T bridge app and aren't getting charged.

Getting back on topic.

There should be no issues with using the BB bridge in Europe. I've done it with my Sprint Intl plan without issues.