BlackBerry Internet Service Philippines

Here are some notes regarding the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) in the Philippines.

Your BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) Monthly Service Fee (MSF) will be charged on top of your existing MSF with your telco. For example, in the case of Sun Cellular, the lowest BIS plan is P700 per month, which will be charged on top of your Sun Cellular MSF.

In the Terms and Conditions of various BlackBerry Add-On Plans, the telco or mobile provider reserves the right not to support BlackBerry handsets which were not purchased directly from that telco's business centers or authorized channels. This has been the experience with people who signed up with Globe or even with Digitel Mobile Philippines Incorporated (DMPI).

So... what about all those open-line BlackBerry handsets you purchased in Singapore or elsewhere? Hmmm.

The minimum holding period for the BlackBerry Subscription is 6 months.

If you want to try the service, go for the daily or weekly trial. Those who ended up loving the service went for the Monthly package... and got disappointed. (SMART / Globe)

It may take a while, though, to renew your BIS Plan. Perhaps BlackBerry + Prepaid Plans don't really work that efficiently together in the long-run. Well, go Postpaid, then. :-)

There have been accounts of BB WiFi getting disabled after the BIS subscription expires. That's why some bloggers never activate BIS on their BlackBerry. They prefer to use their BB only over WiFi, and they're happily using push email, Facebook/Twitter for BB, the BB Browser, and YM.

You'll need to be very patient when it comes to Technical Support. In the meantime, you can scour the web for info about people's BlackBerry Internet Service experience. If you wish to minimize your downtime, then get a BB unit from the telco that you wish to subscribe with, whether that's SMART, Globe, or Sun Cellular.

[ First posted on 09/02/2010 by Manuel Viloria ]