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UPDATE: I wrote the article below in early 2008. Since then, Qtel's BlackBerry service improved dramatically, and I don't think it is fair anymore to describe it the way I did back then. As I now noticed that my Blog post is again on the front page of Explore Qatar, I felt it was only right to update it.

Actually, QTEL BB service is now very, very good, and I even had a small problem recently and their call center personnel were professional, cordial and very knowledgeable.

Well, the day finally came. Scared by imminent arrival of competition (read: Vodaphone) Q-Tel had been rolling out a bunch of new services and bundling old ones. So, finally, they came around to offer Blackberry as well. Hooray! (or not?)

(For few of you who’re not into gadgets, Blackberries are mobile phone-like devices that apart from working like any normal GSM phone also send and receive email instantly, pretty much like SMS messages, as they’re sent. BB’s are standard tool of any road warier for a while now)

So – how does Q-Tel’s BB offer stand? Unfortunately, just like anything else Q-Tel, poor and miserable.

(I have to add the disclaimer here that I am talking only about “personal” service here. Q-Tel also has a “corporate” offer. I can’t speak about the level of service for that one… )

So – First of all, let’s see what is the deal: Q-Tel instructs you to get the devices (phones) from “Starlink”, authorized reseller. Starlink has 3 devices on offer, 8300 Curve, Pearl and another one, all in all reasonable choice. Actually, they are selling unlocked devices, so you can also bring your own unlocked BB from anywhere and get it to work with Q-TEL (more about this later).

You can convert any post-paid GSM line into BB account. It is a straight-forward procedure, and can be done over 111 line. To start, they’ll charge you 150QR, with further 125 QR / month for the service.

So far so good, right?

Well, now comes the funny part.

First of all, nobody in Q-Tel seams to know ANYTHING about BlackBerry, what it is, how it works, anything. Girls working on 111 line have two lines of text they’re obviously reading from some sheet of paper and that is absolutely ALL you can find out from them. No supervisors, no technicians, no managers. Nothing. Nobody. No. Information.

So, dear reader, to save you from what I’ve been thru, let me provide some information for you:

• Although they say that 125 QR/month plan allows for unlimited email/internet access, it really doesn’t. Your BlackBerry DOESN’T have internet / data access, and you can’t use any 3rd party that needs it – from WorldMate, Idea Matrix, to Facebook. Nobody in Qtel knows if they have any Data plans. Nobody I managed to reach over 111 knows that such things even exist. All they will do is read over and over those two lines of text – how to read email and how to “search Internets”

• Some weird rudimentary Internet access does exist, but only through “MOSAIC” button which shows up in your BB once Q-Tel is activated. Even then, it takes 10 minutes for it’s own start page to load, and most websites are not accessible.

• Q-Tel drops BB signal on average once every two days. You can tell by letters “GPRS” turning to small “gprs”. Small letters means no BB. Only cure is to take the battery out of your device and put it back in.

Yes, you CAN use unlocked BlackBerries, and this is how (don’t even bother calling Q-Tel):

1. Call 111 to activate BB service for your phone. Use post paid GSM chip, and install it in your BlackBerry

2. When you see letters GPRS in Caps, BB service is operational (takes them approx. One day)

3. Go to -> options -> advanced options -> host routing tables – then click on the Menu button of BlackBerry and click on “Register now”

4. Go to option – Advance Option – enterprise activation, and put your user name and password, and press “Register”

Once you’re registered, you can go to www.qtel.blackberry.com and do all sorts of settings for your email including filters and signature files ( Girl from Q-Tel’s 111 categorically claimed that you can’t.. but believe me, you can)

So – is it worth it? Well, if you’re out of the office much, site or travel, I’d say yes. BB is very, very usefull and well integrated with your existing email, whichever you’re using.

And if you want to actually use Internet, I’d recommend ordering unlocked BB device with WiFI (you can buy unlocked 8320 from several websites in USA, that is what I did), and then activating it here. That way you can at least go browsing when you’re in range of WiFI somewhere...