International BlackBerry Compatibility Guide

This article was originally posted on BlackBerryForums.com by its author, Mark Rejhon

To use a BlackBerry internationally, you must use a GSM compatible BlackBerry. This means North American users must go with Rogers, AT&T, Cingular, or T-Mobile, or go with an International carrier that sells one of the compatible BlackBerry models. As long as the carrier has GPRS capability for their GSM network, and your home carrier has a roaming agreement to roam onto their network, then BlackBerry should work even if that network isn’t BlackBerry compatible. (However, you must use a SIM card from a BlackBerry-compatible network.)

“Domestic” = Inside North America
“International” = Outside North America
“XX” = A number that is 58, 62, 67, 72, or 77.

BEST UNIVERSAL WORLDPHONES (BOTH DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL)

XX90
7100
8100 series
8700 series

BEST UNIVERSAL INTERNATIONAL BLACKBERRIES

XX20
XX30
XX90

BEST UNIVERSAL DOMESTIC BLACKBERRIES

XX80
XX90

GOOD INTERNATIONAL BLACKBERRY

XX10

CONDITIONAL DOMESTIC BLACKBERRY- LESS RECEPTION ON SOME CARRIERS

XX10
XX30

CONDITIONAL INTERNATIONAL BLACKBERRY – LESS RECEPTION, ONLY SOME COUNTRIES

XX80

WILL NOT WORK INTERNATIONALLY

XX50
5790

WILL NOT WORK DOMESTICALLY

XX20

Listing Of Frequencies

Where XX is either 58, 62, 67, 72, or 77.
Countries inside North America use 850 Mhz or 1900 Mhz or both.
Countries outside of North America use 900 Mhz or 1800 Mhz or both.

XX10 – 900/1900 Mhz GSM
XX20 – 900/1800 Mhz GSM
XX30 – 900/1800/1900 Mhz GSM
XX50 – CDMA (North America only)
XX80 – 850/1800/1900 Mhz GSM
XX90 – 850/900/1800/1900 Mhz GSM

EXCEPTIONS

6500 series – iDEN
7500 series – iDEN
5790 model – Mobitex
7100 series – GSM (quadband like XX90 universal worldphone)
8100 – GSM (quadband like XX90 universal worldphone)

International Roaming Agreements, Rates, Data Roaming

Alternative Input Methods

Chinese Operating System

Even on most non-chinese BlackBerrys it is possible to install a chinese operating system which will add chinese input method support to your BlackBerry. You can even keep your english user interface! BlackberryInsight.com has an article with detailed instructions on how to do it.