BlackBerry 10 Phones Will Still Need a “BlackBerry Service” Data Plan

Some of you with BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha devices may have noticed that you do not need a BlackBerry data plan for your SIM to work in the device. Others may have been wondering if RIM’s BlackBerry 10 devices are still going to need a separate data plan (which is sometimes priced higher) for their BlackBerry 10 devices. Even though BlackBerry 10 uses ActiveSync for email they still use RIM’s infrastructure for Push notifications and more.

This has been a back and forth question though Bla1ze noticed a bit of clarity in RIM’s previous post about the differences between the two BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha models. In it RIM clarifies and says that while the Dev Alpha’s do not need a BlackBerry Service plan this is not the case for upcoming BlackBerry 10 Models. Here is the exact wording:

Should you decide to get a microSIM for your Dev Alpha, you do not need to have “BlackBerry Data” turned on for the account. Connectivity will be work with regular Internet access alone. There may be some carriers where data connectivity doesn’t work, but Wi-Fi will work for you in that case. Please note that this is the case just for the Dev Alpha device and not BlackBerry 10 launch devices, which will need to have BlackBerry data on the wireless plan.

Here is to hoping carriers do not treat it like a BlackBerry Tax which they charge extra for… Otherwise there better be some added benefits for it.