Posts Tagged ‘North America’

T-Mobile Spokesperson Responds to WiFi BlackBerry Data Outage

March 12th, 2010 BBerryNews

T-Mobile have issued an explanation for the BlackBerry data outage that affected users on Monday and Tuesday, saying it related only to WiFi and not T-Mobile’s network. This is contradictory to what many users reported, but all inquiries on the subject were deflected from T-Mobile to RIM, who have not commented on the outage.

In an email to PC World, a T-Mobile spokesperson said the outage affected all North American carriers, and that RIM’s technical support team managed to troubleshoot the problem.

“This particular issue occurred only when customers attempted to send/receive data, browse the Web or send PIN-to-PIN (Peronal Identification Number) messages via Wi-Fi,” the spokesperson said. “Services over T-Mobile’s network were operational throughout this time. T-Mobile instructed customers to turn off Wi-Fi and connect via our network.”

Again, this isn’t what users reported experiencing. BlackBerry users across North America reported data issues affecting WiFi devices not connected to a WiFi network. With RIM’s history of silence on these matters, we probably won’t ever fully understand what happened.

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2010



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Rogers Now Offering Better Roaming Rates for Canadians in US

March 2nd, 2010 BBerryNews

Rogers have launched a new One Rate Roaming plan which is going to be really beneficial for anyone who travels to the US. For an extra $10 more per month than most Rogers regular domestic data plan rates, customers can now sign up for One Rate plans which allows them to use data in the U.S. as they would at home, and have it deducted from the same data bucket.

Here are the available One Rate plans:

  • $20 Personal Email on BB CDN/US.
  • $35 Consumer/Small business BB (BIS) 500MB CDN/US Plan.
  • $35 Consumer/Small business 500MB CDN & US Data Plan.
  • $40 Consumer/Small business BB (BIS) 1GB CDN & US Plan.
  • $40 Consumer/Small business 1GB CDN & US Data Plan.
  • $45 500MB CDN & US Mobile Internet Flex Rate Plan.
  • $50 DAP (for MSD customers) 1.5GB CDN & US Data Plan.
  • $55 Corporate BB (BES) 1GB CDN & US Plan.

    •          

  • $55 Corporate BB (BES) 500 MB CDN & US Flex Rate Plan.

*Prices listed do not include the Government Regulatory Recovery Fee. See rogers.com/regulatory fee for more information.

In addition to data plans, Rogers is offering One Rate value packs. For $50 (plus Government Regulatory Recovery Fee), BlackBerry users can get 500 MB of data, unlimited SMS in Canada, enhanced voicemail and other features.

Overall, I think anyone roaming is going to save money on Rogers, but I think we still need to come down on prices. Smartphone adoption is being seriously held back in North America but data plan rates and we would all like to see them come down.

© Matt Cameron aka W4LNUT for BlackBerry Cool, 2010



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Are you experiencing a BIS outage?

November 18th, 2009 BBerryNews

There are reports all around that the BIS is down across North America. Personally, I never notice these things when they happen because I’m on a BES, but I feel for everyone affected. The outages are reported with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. Again, there are so many reasons why the BIS might be down that it’s impossible to speculate, but if multiple carriers are affected, it’s probably a node somewhere in RIM’s network.

Are you experiencing an outage? Where are you and who is your network provider?

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2009



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Is your BlackBerry service down? Causes of service outages

September 15th, 2009 BBerryNews

blackberry_email_diagram

Yesterday, customers all over North America were experiencing problems getting BIS email.

There are a number of reasons why your BlackBerry BIS email me not be working. For example, it’s possible that the NOC has gone down. The NOC is the Network Operations Center, and it is where messages go when they leave your device before being passed to the carrier. If the NOC goes down, your email will stop sending and you have to wait for RIM to fix the issue.

You may also stop receiving email if the carrier’s BIS server farm is having issues. This could be for any number of reasons. Other reasons include server hardware failure at RIM’s end, or a software bug.

Due to the complex nature of the architecture it’s impossible to speculate without some kind of hint from RIM. Sites such as Dataoutages, are great for providing updates and they had the following on yesterday’s issue:

Reported by: Multiple sources across Canada and USA.
Trouble Ticket Number: TT000011677021
Severity: 2-Medium
Description of Issue: Degradation of RIM BlackBerry BIS service.
Location of Issue: All Regions ;All Markets and surrounding areas
Start Time: Sep 09 2009 12:06 PM PDT
Symptoms you MAY experience: RIM BlackBerry BIS customers may experience delays in sending/receiving email.
Estimated time of repair: Unknown
Technicians are working towards resolution as quickly as possible.

What’s going on RIM?

© BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2009

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Bell BlackBerry Tour 9630 now available for $249.95 on 3 year contract

July 10th, 2009 BBerryNews

bell_blackberry_tour

Bell has officially announced the BlackBerry Tour 9630! The Tour is the latest BlackBerry device and it operates on both EVDO and HSPA high speed networks globally. The device is now available to purchase online and will be available at Bell Mobility stores nationally starting July 11th.

Want to know more about the BlackBerry Tour? Check out our review of the TELUS Tour 9630.


BELL MOBILITY ADDS THE 3G BLACKBERRY TOUR SMARTPHONE TO ITS GLOBAL SMARTPHONE LINEUP

Bell Mobility today announced the 3G BlackBerry(R) Tour(TM) smartphone from Research In Motion (RIM), a powerful new global smartphone that operates on both EVDO and HSPA high speed networks globally and delivers advanced multimedia capabilities and access to industry leading mobile email, messaging and social networking features. The smartphone is now available to purchase online and will be available at Bell Mobility stores nationally starting July 11th. The BlackBerry Tour smartphone features advanced multimedia capabilities, enhanced Internet and email, full QWERTY keyboard and a 3.2 MP camera

MISSISSAUGA, ON, July 10 2009 — Bell Mobility today announced the 3G BlackBerry(R) Tour(TM) smartphone from Research In Motion (RIM), a powerful new global smartphone that operates on both EVDO and HSPA high speed networks globally and delivers advanced multimedia capabilities and access to industry leading mobile email, messaging and social networking features. The smartphone is now available to purchase online and will be available at Bell Mobility stores nationally starting July 11th.

“Whether clients are avid globetrotters or spend most of their time in North America, the BlackBerry Tour smartphone’s multi-network global 3G capabilities and unique mix of performance, functionality and style make it an ideal choice in a smartphone,” said Adel Bazerghi, Senior Vice President of Products at Bell Mobility. “The BlackBerry Tour delivers the best of both worlds with high-speed 3G service in North America and around the world to ensure clients stay connected, entertained and informed wherever they are.”

The BlackBerry Tour smartphone is the latest mobile handset from Bell that offers clients the best of both worlds in terms of network access and roaming. In North America, users benefit from Bell Mobility’s high speed EVDO network, Canada’s largest 3G network, while being able to roam seamlessly on 3G HSPA/UMTS and quad-band EDGE networks when traveling internationally.

In addition to the BlackBerry platform’s proven push technology that automatically delivers messages, notifications and updates to the smartphone as they arrive, the BlackBerry Tour smartphone includes a highly tactile, full QWERTY keyboard for quick and easy typing. It provides the ability to download, view and edit Microsoft(R) Word, PowerPoint and Excel files, and supports BlackBerry App World(TM) giving clients access to more business and leisure applications.

With additional features such as a 3.2 MP camera with autofocus, image stabilization, video recording and geo-tagging, access to popular applications and social networks like Facebook(R), MySpace and Flickr(R), instant text, picture and video messaging and an enhanced HTML browser – which supports streaming audio and video – the BlackBerry Tour is well suited for both consumers and professionals.

The BlackBerry Tour also includes an integrated media player with support for Bluetooth(R) stereo and commercial free music and an HVGA+ (480×360) high resolution display ideal for Bell Mobility services such as Live TV, GPS Nav and a variety of downloadable games. Clients can also access Bell Mobility’s popular music service, Full Track Music, on the BlackBerry Tour smartphone and can take advantage of the handset’s microSD/SDHC memory card slot, which supports cards up to 16 GB to store all their favorite songs, videos and images.

The BlackBerry Tour 3G global smartphone is now available for purchase on Bell.ca and will be available nationally from Bell Mobility starting on July 11th for as little as $249.95 on a three year contract with data plan or for $699.95 without a contract.

To purchase online, go to the Bell online store.

For more great deals on BlackBerry devices, go our smartphone section.

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2009


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