It is easy to forget about Alltell when it comes to wireless carriers in the United States, however, they claim to have the America’s largest network. It must be true because I read it on RIM’s site.
Well, the largest network now carries the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition. One can pretty much bet that Alltell will come out with a new BlackBerry device right after Sprint does.
[Press Release]
8830 GPS won’t work in Europe.
I did a google search and came up with this from: evdoinfo.com/content/view/2051/64/ and last updated 15 August 2007.
Quoting: “Q – Does GPS work internationally?
A – No, the GPS chipset on the 8830 is disabled when the device is in GSM/GPRS mode due to Qualcomm requirement.”
The only mention of a tie between GPS and CDMA in Blackberry’s own user manual is:
Quoting: “About assisted GPS support
Your BlackBerry® device is designed to support assisted GPS when your device is connected to a CDMA network. If you make an emergency call or your device is in Emergency Callback Mode, an emergency operator might be able to use assisted GPS technology to estimate your location.”
I have been unable to find any info on Blackberry’s website or their user manual that the 8830’s GPS will not work in Europe. In point of fact, in a phone conversation with a local Alltel/Blackberry salesperson he indicated that he too believed that the 8830 GPS would work in Europe. Seems like a deceptive business practise on Blackberry’s part to me.