One of the nice things about owning a Blackberry is that you can keep a controlling interest on your work wherever you go. If you frequently travel overseas for business and need a lifeline, those who own a Blackberry have first hand knowledge of how a Blackberry phone will improve your leaps and bounds. Ideally though, when you travel abroad you will want to save roaming expenses on a daily basis seeing usage fees will be higher and will accrue over time. To give yourself these kind of savings, you will need to swap your Blackberry's SIM card with a much cheaper carrier's SIM card, and should notice a usage price improvement. SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, simply means service information is stored on a removable plastic card that virtually lives inside of your Blackberry phone.

GSM carriers such as T-Mobile and AT&T usually load their Blackberry's device software to a locked SIM card for use on their network only. This means locked Blackberry's keep you from switching services by of course swapping SIM cards. To unlock your Blackberry, an unlock code is necessary. Some carriers such as T-Mobile will issue you an unlock code only after 90 days. You simply call up the customer service department, provide them with your IMEI number, and an unlock code will be issued. You might even be able to find an unlock code over the internet by doing a web search. It may take a little scouring. However, that's one of the least expensive places to begin. Simply enter your phone model along with the words unlock code. For instance "Blackberry 8830 unlock code", per say. Other third party players will unlock your Blackberry for a fee. Ever get the growing feeling that unlock codes are kept behind a paid wall?

If you were fortunate enough to come across an unlock code for your Blackberry per say over the internet, you simply turn off your Blackberry, place the new SIM card into your phone, turn your Blackberry back on and turn wireless option off. You will need to access your blackberry's "MEPD" mode.

On the home screen, roll trackball select options click trackball, roll trackball scroll to Advanced Options click trackball, roll trackball to SIM Card click trackball- hold the Alt key, type MEPD then MEPPD (characters will not appear while being entered--this is normal--the device will now open the Network MEP mode), wait for prompt to tell you to enter network MEP code.

• Type in the unlock code
• Click trackball (or tap enter key then reboot).

Voila! Your Blackberry is now unlocked!

TIP: Some Blackberry Curves from AT&T may not allow MEPD menu access without an AT&T or Cingular SIM card, but not all. Some Blackberry phones will even allow you to access MEPD menu without a SIM card.

It never hurts to call your carrier for an unlock code even before 90 days or whatever specified time period is needed to be reached. They might agree to do it.

The Q-bicle neither warrants expressly, written or otherwise, neither is liable for any representations in content, delays or errors in content, nor actions taken due to content