So as BlackBerry 10 is launched and being prepared for sale. With that, questions have been raised regarding the BIS plans due to Vodafone’s leak recently. So here we have it clarified.

As you can see from the above, earlier last year, Tim from BlackBerry Dev Relations noted that for test devices and Dev Alpha’s, the OS have been configured to run without BlackBerry Data Service and this is not true for the actual BlackBerry 10 retail devices.

So, reports from UK side, which was where the leak originated from (Vodefone – which said BIS is now gone on BlackBerry 10), say that it is possible to use without BIS.

So now, what happened? It could be OS where they forgot to change it, or it could be true on rumours!

We reached out to RIMBlackBerry on Thursday and we got the answer for you.
For all of you out there,

NO, BIS IS NO LONGER REQUIRED

What this means is you can now use a BlackBerry without subscription to additional data plans. BlackBerry Internet Service would hence, serve of no additional benefits to users of BlackBerry 10.

So, here we come to the Q&A.

Question: Is my data still secure?
Answer: Yes, it is. Instead of relying on hardware, RIMBlackBerry has decided to go ahead with software encryption model instead. In technical terms, a packet of data would have to go encrypted (null key) from your device to the RIM server where its repackaged and sent encrypted (null key) to the recipient. Now, however, its encrypted on the device directly, and sent direct to the recipient for decryption. Hence, your data is still sent securely.

Question: What benefits do I stand to gain?
Answer: Well, this can be rather technical. Your data now do not need to travel long distances as opposed to the standard BIS previously. With less travel distances, both you and your recipient can expect to receive messages or data faster. All of it, the ping, latency and stability should now improve, and will be hence, entirely dependent on your telco. One less party in the transmission path, one less factor that will cause network disruptions (if any) in the future.

Also, you now can use any data plan on your BlackBerry 10 device, which is hence, cheaper!

Question: How about the disadvantages?
Answer: We will lose a key feature in BlackBerry called DataSmart Technology. With all the telcos reducing their data bundles these days, data consumption has been a hot topic. A BlackBerry device was 4x more data friendly than rivaling devices and this is no longer true with BlackBerry 10. With the native browser able to emulate in both mobile or desktop mode, data consumption might just be on the rise. So while we gain better network speeds and stability, we actually lose this useful technology.

Question: So why, why remove it?!
Answer: These compression are all done on RIMBlackBerry’s end, on the server. By removing it out of the equation, it is hence, unable to get any more compressed than what a web server will send to your device. While it is true, for now, regarding the wireless data crunch, there is a strong believe that free data, via means such as wifi will be more and more readily available such as Wireless@SG.
However, it is against what I would usually like to say, but this is not what I would actually believe. Only time will tell for this, but I am strongly feeling this effect after i have added the iPhone and S3 onto my contract (multi-sim).

Question: What remains unchanged?
Answer: Well, the BlackBerry Push features and jazz will still be there. These won’t be affected and the security is no where compromised along this chain of communication. Expect notifications to work even harder with BlackBerry 10, though. We will cover how this will work technically later in the week as we take the time to speak with RIMBlackBerry executives.

In addition to the above, what remains unchanged is the standard BlackBerry Services. BBM, Emails, Facebook, Twitter etc will all remain usable. In short, all BlackBerry data or all data consumed by your devices will route through your telco only and not through RIMBlackBerry’s server. The BlackBerry experience hence, improves and does not go worse. This is, I believe, what we the consumers have had wanted too. 🙂

Updated, added answer.

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