Based on my previous posting about Telkomsel Blackberry Internet Service – Postpaid, there is a question from my reader about a difficulty on having BIS to be activated. The reason is because he/she bought a second hand handset (I’m sure it’s a black market market) and the previous owner has not release the user account (or maybe PIN, i dont know, i’m not a BB user) yet. So the new handset owner cannot activate BIS.

As far as I know, RIM is working exclusively only with telco operator (either GSM or CDMA) for selling their product (BIS, BES, BB handsets). CMIIW, RIM does not sell the handset directly to retail market. So, any handset sold in the market which doesn’t come from operator (or operator’s authorized reseller) I assume as black market handset.

I’ve googled to find some articles about it because in Indonesia most BB sold in the market in my opinion is black market one. The benefit on buying black market product is giving you cheaper price. Sometimes the price differebce is quite significant. The other side, you cant do anything if something went wrong with it. You only got personal warranty by the seller, if you’re lucky to get good seller.

So, what might be happen with your BB handset? These 2 posts could be interesting :)

• GSM-Forum – PIN Suspended, BIS cannot activate Post #23
• GSM-Forum – PIN Suspended, BIS cannot activate Post #47
• [Kaskus] Garansi Resmi Blackberry (in Bahasa Indonesia)

So, which one is yours? Is it safe?