Thread: Boost Mobile to Offer the Blackberry Curve 8330

Well look at the news to come out of the BGR, it would appear that Boost Mobile is preparing to release the Blackberry Curve 8330. Now while this is not an earth shattering announcement it will be a welcome release for folks who want to be able to feed their Blackberry addiction without having to sign one of those pesky two year deals with the carriers out there. This should be an interesting release as Boost has traditionaly only offered IDEN devices for their customers. This adds to the growing number of CDMA devices they currently have. From the pic we can gather that the device will run you a stiff $249 and will paired with unlimited talk, text, and web for $70 a month. Thats not a bad monthly rate for a contract free plan.

it has arrived, and its running OS 5.0!!!!

Boost 8330--5.0, its here and for real - BlackBerry Forums at CrackBerry.com

anyone know how to get a hold of the OS from this carrier?

This OS is out there so how do we find it?



so, how do we get our hands on this OS? Boost Mobile is NOT listed on the BlackBerry OS download page.

Originally Posted by njaremka

This OS is out there so how do we find it?



so, how do we get our hands on this OS? Boost Mobile is NOT listed on the BlackBerry OS download page.

That OS has not been released or leaked yet so there is no way to get it.. YET.. merged with existing 8330 to boost thread.

boost mobile is shipping the phones with 5.0.0.419, and DM is upgrading to 438. so, why cant we get it too!!!!

Originally Posted by njaremka

boost mobile is shipping the phones with 5.0.0.419, and DM is upgrading to 438. so, why cant we get it too!!!!

If its only through DM you will have to wait for someone to dump the java or for them to release it as a downloadable file. We have seen this happen with a few OS's

If I might ask, does anyone know if you can switch a Verizon 9530 (Storm) or a Verizon 8330 (Curve) to Boost? I know Boost uses the SIM card and the 9530 has a sim card slot. Can you just run the unlock sequence and get a new MEP number from Boost to make the 9530 work?

Thank you.

Originally Posted by vader7071

If I might ask, does anyone know if you can switch a Verizon 9530 (Storm) or a Verizon 8330 (Curve) to Boost? I know Boost uses the SIM card and the 9530 has a sim card slot. Can you just run the unlock sequence and get a new MEP number from Boost to make the 9530 work?

Thank you.

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe Boost operates on a different frequency.

I was under the impression that the 8330 on Boost was on their CDMA side...

That is what I was thinking. I read that Boost was moving from iDEN to CDMA to be able to offer the blackberry and data. So I figured that a Verizon CDMA blackberry should work on a Boost CDMA system. Just a thought.

With the model number 8330 it has to be CDMA, and depending on the network restrictions there should be no reason any CDMA blackberry doesnt work on the network.

Assuming we are correct then, what would I need to do to get the VZW 8330 on the Boost system? Unlock the phone? If so, how do I do that?

Originally Posted by vader7071

Assuming we are correct then, what would I need to do to get the VZW 8330 on the Boost system? Unlock the phone? If so, how do I do that?

Nope, only have to unlock for GSM. If you want to try it the only thing you could do is just try and have your ESN activated on Boost from the vzw 8330. It should take nothing more than that, if it doesnt work that means they are like sprint, and I am not sure how or if you can get it working then.

Boost Mobile is Sprint (CDMA ESN)/Nextel (IDEN SIM). I tried to get them to activate a Sprint 8330 and they informed me they would not unless it was the Boost branded phone. I tried three different reps and received the same answer.

The problem with VZW/Alltel phones are their MSL is typically set to 000000 where Sprint and Boost calculate the MSL based off of the ESN in addition to the "one time use" MSL which will expire after so many uses.

The next issue is loading the PRL on the phone. Sprint/Boost will attempt to update the PRL if the account is flagged but if the MSL does not match what the system sends to the phone, the process fails. I found this out after playing with an old 8830 and changed the MSL to 000000 since I was giving it to a friend who was going to MetroPCS. The only Blackberry I'm aware of that has a user initiated PRL update (not requiring the account to be flagged by a rep and dialing *2 to start) is the Tour 9630.

Even though the 9550/9530 Storm, 9630 Tour, and the 8830 have a SIM, they will only work on GSM carriers such as AT&T or T-Mobile. They cannot use IDEN SIM cards. This is how people are using the Storms on AT&T and T-Mobile but are limited to using EDGE for their data transfers due to these phones lacking the North American 3G GSM/UMTS radio frequencies.

In short, my assumption is that Boost figures you're getting service cheaper than other places and wants to make money off of the devices which is why they won't activate anything but their own devices.

The 8330 doesnt have a simcard slot, and neither does the 8330m the 8350 was the iden version. Sprint isnt sim card based unless you have an iden phone or Nextel