My wife has contacted Swisscom about pricing information, and told them that we both already have our own Blackberry's. She was sent a reply stating that our existing Blackberry's wouldn't work and we would have to go buy new phones (on a 2 year contract).

Now our phones aren't SIM locked, so I cant personally understand why they wouldn't work. Can anyone spread some light on this for us? Otherwise I'm going to sell my phone before I leave?

Just to check, your BBs have a SIM card and are not CDMA (the more popular system in some parts of the world. not sure about SA). If they have a SIM card they should work on the Swiss system.

You could also check with Orange who also have a BB service. Here is the link. Look around for the different offers. I would contact them and ask the same question as you asked Swisscom.

Orange also offers 12 month and 24 month plans.

http://shop.orange.ch/en/mobile-phon...at/blackberry/

Do bear in mind that if you live in SGP you will in fact be roaming the whole time . Swisscom have many options but for data the cheapest is the subscription they use for iphones. Otherwise Orange France have pay as you go options rather than subscriptions, your choice.

Thanks Verbier,

We do have SIM cards, I know at least that much. We have previously bought pre-paid SIMS in Geneva which we have used before. Was just a bit shocked now when SC said that our BB's wouldn't work in Switzerland?

I'll check out Orange now and send them a mail

Hmmm damn.. didn't think about that. Another thing to add to the list

They should work without a problem but you will still have to take out a 1 year contract for services, however this is still a lot cheaper than taking one together with a device. We moved from Asia and all our mobile devices worked perfectly, including BB.

It will work. You will be required to pay for the sim card 40chf . The monthly cost will depend on what contract you require. Absolutely no reason to buy the another phone.

Thanks all.

This was the official email we got from them:

Guess we'll be keeping our BB's then in the mean time

Did you actually read the post, before making that statement

Your BB's should be fine especially as you've used pre-paids before, but they do have a point on the warranty though. One thing you will learn is the Swiss don't get the concept of customer service and will just look to flog you a new one. Mind you, if they are going to tie you into a contract/data plan then deals like these might make it worthwhile taking a contract phone anyway and selling your unlocked ones or keep them for travelling. http://shop.orange.ch/en/online-shop...=footer_mobile

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How do you know if a Frenchman has been in your garden.... your rubbish is gone, your dog is pregnant.... but at least your cabbages are pest free

Your BBs will work fine if they're GSM phones and are unlocked. However, they have to be de-registered from your current network in order to work on any other network. I suppose that's what the Swisscom guy was trying to tell you.
Many carriers (including all Swiss carriers, as far as I know) will NOT automatically de-register BBs once the contract is terminated. I had to call the BB support department every single time when I switched networks.

Peter

Hmm, thanks Peter. I'll make sure when we leave that I get our currently Service provider to release the PINS from their network.