The Blackberry data plans are run by Blackberry themselves, and have specific features that only work on Blackberry phones. If you have no clue about cellphone data plans-Īmong cellphone data plans, there's two types: the "generic" plans (that work with any smart phone) and Blackberry. I ended up with a Windows Mobile phone on a generic smartphone data plan. I have a BB Curve 8310 as my first unlocked phone, I ran it on a generic data plan for a while but I didn't get the BB data plan as I didn't like the details of it. Everything only works if you go on a Blackberry data plan. On the GSM carriers (AT&T and T-Mobile) you can get an unlocked Blackberry elsewhere and use it in any capacity you wish––but all its features won't work on a non-data, or on a generic data plan. (in the USA) with the non-GSM cell phone providers, the only way to get a Blackberry phone at all is to also sign up for the Blackberry-specific data plan.
You'd probably do better with a "dumb" phone and a wifi-enabled gadget like an iPod Touch.
An inherited Storm 1 I have at home won't even update firmware without being active. I'm running on wifi at the moment with no cell signal, but that's on an already running unit. Verizon, at least, requires a data plan to activate a BB. The hangup would be getting your BlackBerry even activated and registered without a data plan.