My son is in Iraq and has a Verizon Blackberry Storm with "Global Service" and a US phone number. He also has a US address. I signed him up for a Skype account and an exe application was sent to his phone. However, when he tries to activate that account on his phone in Iraq he receives a message along the lines of "This program is not for use outside the US".
I tried a variety of approaches to resolve the issue. I sent email to Skype support and also called Verizon 611 - I even submitted question to JustAnswer.com. The responses I got back were:
- Verizon 611: The rep could not see any reason why Skype for Verizon BB would not work. She suggested that I have my son contact Global Support (?) at (908) 559-4899 from a separate line, but with his Storm at hand, so that they could walk him through the setup process.
- JustAnswer.com: "Mike" said that Skype for Verizon would work ONLY through Verizon towers and, since Verizon did not have any towers in Iraq, the Skype application would not work.
- Skype Support: Their reply aligned with Mike's from JustAnswer.com. They did suggest a Skype-to-Go subscription (which allows Skype calls to be made from any type of phone) or that he purchase a Skype-enabled device such as iPhone.
We did subcribe to Skype-to-Go, but Skype Support informed us that this would not work for his BB since the call to the to-Go number would be placed through a non-Verizon tower and that excessive data/roaming rates would probably be charged. I don't think that this would be true, but, in any case, the Skype-to-Go number apparently will not work.
QUESTION: I am not real clear as to exactly what Wi-Fi is, but it is my understanding that it is pretty much just wireless internet access. If this is the case, and Wi-Fi is available in my son's area, would the BB Storm2 with built-in Wi-Fi be capable of accessing a Skype account since the Internet access is direct and NOT through a Verizon tower?
SUGGESTION: Verizon support @ 611 has always proven to be reliable, but they really should get more training on new services and applications when they are introduced through Verizon.
