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Sun Cellular now offers BlackBerry Service

Digitel and RIM today announced that Sun Cellular is now offering BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) with the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and BlackBerry Curve 8520 to customers in the Philippines.

The BlackBerry Internet Service plans, together with the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphones, will be initially available at selected Sun Shops — Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Metro East, Robinsons Manila, TriNoma, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Park Square, SM Marilao, SM Megamall, Festival Mall, SM North EDSA, SM Cebu and Ayala Cebu. Availability will also soon be expanded to all Sun Shops.

I checked the website and the newsroom doesn’t have the details nor the listed postpaid plans, including BlackBerry handset. I am told they have not released how much the BIS postpaid service will be but it should come out anytime soon. Likewise, if you inquire on the listed shops above, you may not get any specific details as well.

More on this as we get details on pricing plans for postpaid and prepaid. Hopefully, it will be cheaper.

Update: Here are the initial details of BlackBerry Plans from Sun Cellular:

  • BB Plan 2500
  • BB Add-on 700 (10MB quota)
  • BB Add-on 999 (Unlimited BIS)
  • BB Add-on 1399 (Unlimited BIS + Internet)

BB Add-on Plans are available for the following:

  • Plan 350
  • Plan 600
  • Plan 1000
  • Plan 2000
  • Plan 3500
  • Elite Series Subscribers

*6-month lock-in period for Add-On plans.

BlackBerry Curve 8520 is free at Plan 2500 while BlackBerry Bold 9700 is Php15,000 at Plan 2500.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

84 Responses

  1. Avatar for Choi (Red) Choi (Red) says:

    @Bryan perhaps they are not aware yet of how stupid that sounds. I suggest you file a formal complaint. Make sure to mention that it was they who gave you those settings, hence you should not be billed of apps using GPRS when you should be using BIS. And the funny this is, why is your phone using GPRS when your APN is set to Blackberry.net? Isn’t that weird. Do you have an unlimited add on plan?

  2. Avatar for bryan bryan says:

    i did and the funny thing is they told me that yes some apps really use gprs, the last resort i had was to ask a list of apps that uses gprs and they said that they dont have it.. BOOO talaga sun cellular parang tanga

    • Avatar for Allan Corpuz Allan Corpuz says:

      BOOOO talaga…. nakakainis kausap ung mga reps… and yung tech support nila, parang walang mga alam… nakakalungkot bec they have so many subscribers… lost talaga sila nung kausap ko… nakakabad trip..

  3. Avatar for Choi (Red) Choi (Red) says:

    @Bryan that’s weird. I’m using a different APN. That’s the setting they gave you and yet you have 5K worth of data charges? You should complain.

  4. Avatar for bryan bryan says:

    hi choi, yup i talked to them numerous times and the rep from Customer care and their center just told me that the APN should be blackberry.net so it uses the blackberry APN, i never had this problem with globe no APN needed no nothing, kaasar lang kasi parang di alam ng sun kung ano ang problema, now im monitoring my usage because i cant pay 5000++ of a phone bill per month

    • Avatar for Allan Corpuz Allan Corpuz says:

      I agree Sir. had the same problems before. Turned off my Sun Network connection and used wifi only. Tapos when the bill came it, around 2k+. nagulat din ako. When i talked to the reps, sabi daw ng tech support, kahit turned off ang mobile network, magcoconnect pa rin sa GPRS. Tapos parang lost ung answers. Nakakadisappoint because they don’t know what they are talking about. Ang dami tuloy nasayang na pera and time. In the end, wala rin naman resolution.

  5. Avatar for Choi (Red) Choi (Red) says:

    @Maye I am not sure if WAP is included as a freebie in their pay per use service, but in the case of postpaid subscription, it is, so we don’t really have problems like that of @Bryan. Maybe you could clarify with them if it covers both BIS and WAP. :-)

  6. Avatar for Red (Choi) Red (Choi) says:

    @Bryan I had the same problem with another Telco 2 years ago, they told me that my unit was not properly configured and that it was using GPRS instead of BIS for data connection. Anyone can correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m guessing, any application which will require connection to the internet will use GPRS unless it is not configured for BIS. In my case before, it was Worldmate and the net surfing.

    Could you check your APN settings? Your APN should be: minternet

    Hope that helps. :-)

  7. Avatar for Maye Maye says:

    Hi there!

    Have you guys heard of their pay per use BIS? I tried it just now, pero 1 day lang coz I’m scared of extra gprs fees. As of now I’m using lang ubersocial ‘coz I’ve read in crackberry that they charge extra is you use foursquare, etc.

    So I’m thinking its not really unlimited. :| I wanted to switch na kasi from Globe. Wala naman ako problem since I use bb max (1500 a month) since its REALLY unlimited.

    But then super magastos. Sa panahon ngayon na mahal ang gas, kailangan mag tipid.

  8. Avatar for bryan bryan says:

    Hi red, yup i am on the add on plan for Sun too, the problem is my bill ran to 5000+ last month, when i asked them sabi nung rep kasi nagamit daw yung GPRS which they cant turn off kasi if you turn it off i wont be able to use the BIS too. the question is do you have any idea what apps use gprs? i cant log in to twitter and foursquare because im scared of running my bill high again

  9. Avatar for Red Red says:

    @dongv Yup I don’t think that Sun is coming upwith a prepaid BIS anytime soon.

  10. Avatar for dongv dongv says:

    I think its unlimited if you set everything to tunnel via BIS & not TCP/IP.
    I want to try SUN but waiting if they will came up with prepaid BIS, but looks like they don’t have plan doing it,
    I still prefer Globe BIS if difference is just 200 pesos for Globe & Sun,

    just my 2-cents

    • Avatar for bbm bbm says:

      When you say Unlimitied Blackberry service, everything that goes through BB APN is free. If you browse using the browser, it will use the SUN APN. It will only be free when they say “Unlimited Blacberry Service” and “Unlimited Mobile Surfing”

  11. Avatar for Red Red says:

    @Jag Everything is unlimited – BBM, Applications which use data services, browsing. The only exception is when you are abroad and on roaming.

  12. Avatar for Jag Jag says:

    Been using Sun BIS add-on 999 for a month now and i’m pretty much satisfied, the only question is unlimited service is up to where? can anyone confirm if i use apps like google maps, foresquare or other apps is it included in the unli bis plan or will i be charged per kb?

  13. Avatar for mike mike says:

    @red thanks!

  14. Avatar for Red Red says:

    @Mike The unlimited service covers surfing as well.

  15. Avatar for mike mike says:

    @red thanks! forgot to ask though if the unlimited 999 also covers unlimited surfing of just BIS?

  16. Avatar for Red Red says:

    @Mike if you have used Globe and Smart BIS, you will notice that Sun’s BIS Connection in terms of downloads and loading webpages is slower. However, for me it’s acceptable since I don’t do much surfing on my phone, just lots of e-mail and BBM and some BB applications. I’m not sure though if the speed is locations based because I’ve also noticed that in certain areas like Makati or QC I get faster speed. I do believe though that the service will get even better. As I’ve mentioned, I used to hook up with the office wifi to get BIS since data signal is very weak in the office but not, it’s more stable.

  17. Avatar for mike mike says:

    @Red how fast is the connection? I went to the sun shop and they told me that it will not be using the 3G network since separated daw yung broadband and cellular service nila. so if we’re to use the internet on our phones, 2G lang. Don’t know if this will affect the BIS. Hope you can shed light to this. Thanks!

  18. Avatar for dongv dongv says:

    what is the best way just to try out the BB service of SUN?
    sana they have prepaid so we can try & compare it with GLobe or SMart, I give up Smart which has super low signal in my area (Binondo),

  19. Avatar for Red Red says:

    Since yesterday evening, BIS signal has been consistent, not sure if Sun has made upgrades on their infrastructure but I’m not longer getting GSM all day. It switches from EDGE to GPRS unlike before where I have to connect to wifi all day just to get BIS. Keeping my fingers crossed.

    And yes… the unlimited plan is REALLY unlimited. ;-)

  20. Avatar for Magzi Magzi says:

    People you should push that the BB services become efficient in the Philippines since we have the most up-to date telecommunications technology in SEA (someone told me that its all over Asia)- we have already have the 4G in use by the providers. I am currently based in Indonesia and their communication technology is a mixture of CDMA,GSM,GPRS and 3G is the newest technology. (they even have the party-line system in the landlines still in place – this was a horrific experience for my wife when she called me one time and a lady answered the phone using the same line … whew..) This is just an example of where their technology is. This might be the case but instead of constant upgrades in telecom technology the telcos here provided the public an option to use the internet as means to communicate by using internet chat applications – YM, GTalk, MSN Messenger, FB Chat and Internet browsing on the go (comes in really handy when you are lost in a mega-city such as Jakarta)Anyway I only spend about 10,000 IDR equivalent to 50 Php a month on prepaid credits and from this I have free access to the chat applications(which I use to message my wife in Bahrain, relatives in the US and friends back home), internet browsing on demand, FB browsing – using a SE P1i(w/c was bought through a Globe plan some years back) I never realize its potential as a smart phone back home because it was freakin’ expensive to maintain a plan. while the cheapest BB unlimited there 999 will cost me here 190,000 IDR equivalent to 1000 Php it is really a BAD DEAL I figured our telco’s have the better technology but have greedy pockets not to utilize the cheaper technology for the public to use. Blackberry(BB) is the “IT” phone here in Indonesia but they have generic phones made from China that utilizes the same BB & internet applications for cheap communication the cheapest I have seen is equivalent to 1000 Php. Guys let push GLOBE, SMART & SUN to use the right technology at a much forgiving price they have melted our pockets for a long time. GIVE US OUR MONEY’S WORTH!

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