FAQ: Get Verizon To Unlock Your 8830 For International SIM Cards
Paul sent in a great detailed description on how to get Verizon to unlock the GSM portion of your BlackBerry 8830 worldphone FREE. This is not really news since I have heard of people doing this successfully for quite awhile but Paul actually detailed the steps. If you do unlock your phone using this method you will then be able to put in another carriers international SIM card while you are out of the US. That way you can purchase a pay as you go SIM card while your traveling and avoid ridiculously high international rates.
From Paul:
So i did this awhile ago to unlock my VZW 8830 World Edition and wanted to pass it on to other VZW users because its AWESOME and best of all free. To unlock your VZW 8830 there are only a few steps.
1) Call Verizon Global support at the following number 1-908-559-4899.
2) Get on the line with a rep and tell them something along the lines of, you are going on a trip to Europe and want to unlock your phone so you can use a foreign SIM card.
3) The VZW rep will take down your info and will Fedex 2nd day you a VZW/Vodafone SIM card (100% free) and instruct you to call back upon receiving the card to receive your unlock code.
4) You get the card and call back and they generate an unlock code and walk you through the unlocking process (also 100% free).
5) Once unlocked you can remove the VZW/Vodaphone SIM card and put in any other international carriers SIM card.
It worked for me! You don’t pay a dime, and there is NO hassle from the VZW rep. It feels good to stick it to VZW every now and then. 
Feel free to test it out yourself, and this also may deter those from buying marked up unlocked phones for VZW.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the Comments Feed. Leave A Trackback..
Previous Post: RingtoneStudio - Create Ringtones On Your Mac »
Next Post: Commercial Explorer Theme For 8100, 8300, & 8800 »
Related Reading:
- Verizon 8830 With OS 4.5 Found In The Wild
- Verizon Updates 8830 OS To Version 4.2.2.196
- Verizon Finds A Way To Charge For GPS On 8830
July 16th, 2008 09:54
How does this affect the worldwide BlackBerry data feature that is available on the device?
July 16th, 2008 12:02
Interesting.
Vodafone Portugal charges.. 100€…
July 16th, 2008 14:46
You can do this with *any* SIM card. Just pop in an old/borrowed/outdated SIM and have the CSR walk you through the unlock steps.
Unless you have absolutely NO access to a SIM card, it seems a little frivolous to have Verizon FedEx something that you’re going to chuck in the trash an hour later.
July 16th, 2008 18:31
Frivolous? Are you serious? I have absolutely NO QUALMS with asking Verizon to send me this SIM card after 15 years of being nickled and dimed for every little thing. I actually asked regular customer support how to use my phone overseas and they told me I must BUY this SIM for $39.99 plus Vodafone’s roaming charges once I used it.
I will give this method a shot, but will have to wait until I get back home from San Diego.
August 11th, 2008 14:49
well i called them and they stated that i have 2 go to the store and get an sim card wat did you tell them and did u tell the number of the other ohone or the 8830 m
August 18th, 2008 18:49
Use any sim card and it will work to unlock. They will give you the bs about not being liable and yadada. I just did it
August 25th, 2008 20:30
I called in, with VZW/Vodafone sim card in hand, and the rep said they aren’t in the practice of giving out unlock codes. I told him that I had a friend who had done it before but he wouldn’t budge.
What gives?
September 11th, 2008 20:19
Does this only work for 8830? I heard Verizon got a few other World Phone. Did anyone try other ones?