Unlocking my Blackberry Pearl

I decided to see how hard it would be to get T-Mobile to unlock my shiny new Blackberry Pearl. I figured since I might need to travel outside the country, popping a cheap long-distance SIM card into the phone would be a nice feature to have. I called the tech support department at 611 from my phone. I got to a tech within just a minute or two, and they had me enter *#06# and read them my SIM (IMEI) number. He asked if it would be ok to send the unlock instructions to my email address, which I agreed to.

The next day, I had an email from an “ARSystem Notify” with a 16 digit unlock code and the following instructions:

  1. Press the Menu key
  2. Scroll to Options and press the trackball
  3. Scroll to Advanced Options and press the trackball
  4. Scroll to SIM Card and press the trackball
  5. Type MEPPD
  6. Press the Alt key and type MEPP2
  7. Enter the unlock code
  8. Press the Enter Key

I followed these instructions to the letter and the phone was unlocked shortly thereafter. No fuss, no problems, nothing.

T-Mobile, you guys rock. I had been a Cingular customer for years and their customer service was mediocre at best. Ever since I switched in November, I’ve had nothing but excellent customer service from your Blackberry support people.