I live in the Philippines. I bought my 8830WE from someone in the US. In smart dialing, I have the option to use “1″ for national dialing. No way to change that to “0″ which is the national dialing code here. This implies that the phone is configured for use in the US.

The problem I have is this: It seems that the blackberry handles SMS and phone calls differently. When I receive an SMS, the number appears in as 0xxxxxxxxxx. But when I receive a call from the same number, it appears as +63xxxxxxxxxx. If I try to call the number from which I just received a text, I get an “invalid number” message. And If I try to text the number I just received a call from, it doesn’t go through. It appears that the blackberry handles sms and phone numbers differently.

In addition, if I store the number in my address book as 0xxxxxxxxxx, the name will show up when I get a text, but not when I get a phone call. And if I store it in the other format, the name will show up when I get a call, but not when I get a text.

My temporary fix is to store each number in both formats for every contact, using one as the mobile number, and one as Other.

This should not be necessary, but I don’t know how else to handle it. I’ve searched the forums, and I can’t find anyone else with similar problems.

Is it because I’m using a phone meant for US use? Or is it because I’m working in a screwed up country with an incompatible phone numbering system?

By the way, another problem is that the area codes in different cities here have different lengths. In Manila the area code is 2. In other cities, the area code has 2 digits. And mobile phones use a 3 digit number which acts as an area code.

Please offer any help you can!