Blackberry, Cincinnati Bell, and Compatibility

[Fabienne]

In March of 2009 I bought a Blackberry from Cincinnati Bell. I just got through buying an iPhone from AT&T and switching my wireless plan to AT&T. I would like to sell the Blackberry but I don't know if it is compatible with any other system beside Cincinnati Bell. Can it operate on another system, say T-Mobile? I would like to be able to present it as being usable on another carrier. Thanks in advance for your input here.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

What is the exact model number? If it is a gsm phone you can unlock it. If it is CDMA you are sol.

 

[Fabienne]

It's a Curve 8320.

I called AT&T and they told me it would not work on their system even if it were unlocked. They might have been stretching things...this is why I am asking.

 

[yg17]

It's a Curve 8320.

I called AT&T and they told me it would not work on their system even if it were unlocked. They might have been stretching things...this is why I am asking.

If it was unlocked, it would work on AT&T (and T-Mobile for that matter). I'm pretty sure the 8320 is EDGE only, so the carriers' respective 3G bands aren't a concern.

Quick way to test and see if it's unlocked would be to stick an AT&T or T-Mobile SIM in your Blackberry and see if it works (try to make a call to be sure). I guess you couldn't use your iP4 micro-SIM without an adapter, but perhaps a friend has either AT&T or T-Mobile with a regular sized SIM you could borrow for a second?

I'm going to guess it is locked though.

 

[Fabienne]

It is locked. It does work on Edge.

So you are saying that if it was unlocked it would indeed work on AT&T or T Mobile or anyone else (like Verison) and that they were not really telling me the whole truth at AT&T (as astonishing as that might sound)? It would be great if it worked with any carrier.

Newsflash: I did just get off the phone with a guy who unlocks BB's and he told me that more people want a Blackberry which works with Cincinnati Bell than they do a Blackberry which is unlocked and that I would be better off selling it wiped through Criag's List than to go through the trouble of unlocking it and going through e-Bay. Who knew? He says that he can't even unlock Cin Bell because he has no demand for the non-CinBell phones. I hadn't suspected that but it does make the job a bit easier. Thanks for your input anyway. I would not have bothered you if I had known.