As a result of the acquisition and re-alignment of the business by the new owner, part of the business in Tokyo folded and the remaining staff were relocated to the owner’s office there. Tokyo’s function as the regional HQ is now superseded by the Singapore office and with the departure of staff, that also means Blackberry handsets being returned to the company. Since Tokyo has no use of them, we requested that they ship them to us as spares, just in case a careless user lose or break his / her current one.

So 15 Blackberry 8707h purchased from NTT Docomo were sent to us. When the sets arrived, I unpacked a set and tested it with a Blackberry service enabled SIM card from a local telcos. To my disappointment, it showed that the SIM card was invalid (see screen shot).

Undaunted, I borrowed a SIM card from a colleague (which is from another local telco) and the end result was the same. Fed up, I wipe the handset with JL cmder, and installed the latest version of the device software for the 8707-series downloaded from Singtel. Sadly, the set still showed that the SIM card was invalid, and suspecting that this SIM card slot of this set might be faulty, I tested the 2 SIM cards on another set with the same result.

By now, I was quite convinced that these Blackberry handsets are locked down by Docomo. To confirm my suspicion, my colleague in Tokyo was kind enough to call up and check. Docomo confirmed it, but its sales representative refused to release the unlock code to us. They cited that it is company policy, even though we tried explaining that we need the unlock codes so ‘a colleague from Tokyo who is attached here for an extended period’ can use a pre-paid SIM in Singapore. I even tried asking someone who has a working relation with Research in Motion [RIM] to check with their representative, but there was no luck in obtaining any help from them either.

I refused to believe that I am now stuck with 15 Blackberry handsets that is no better than paper weight or bricks, and began my search for alternatives to unlock them. There were 4 options available to me: obtain the MEP unlock code from the telco, buy the unlock code from third party vendors, purchase a proprietary device that will unlock any Blackberry, or use a software to remove the lock.

So, I began searching for MEP codes, just like someone using pirated software would search for hacks or keygens. No joy there, since I quickly discovered that MEP codes are unique and tied to the IMEI number of the handset itself. While there are sites which would provide the MEP code, they charge a small fee ranging from £12.99 to USD $59 per set. (These codes do work, since a friend of mine bought a Blackberry Storm from Verizon and had it unlocked that way previously.)

As for proprietary unlocking devices, a quick search on Google revealed that it costs at least USD $199 a unit. Since I ain’t into a mobile phone / Blackberry unlocking business, there is no reason to purchase one. Simply put, I am not willing to pay even a cent for a set that is owned by the company, not to mention no one is ever going to approve the cost for any of the above solutions!

I kept on searching and I discovered a remark in a forum whereby someone claimed he is able to unlock any Blackberry using something called ‘MML’. Curious, I went looking up for it and I found that it is actually a software called MFI Multiloader – MML for short (see below).

This seems like a software which copyright is owned by RIM itself. If so, RIM does have the means to unlock any Blackberry and on hindsight, I realized that on ethical grounds alone, RIM cannot and will not help someone unlock handsets sold to a telco. After all, the telcos are RIM’s main customers!

I am not going into the details how I obtained MFI Multiloader. The reason being that during my search, I came across a blog post indicating that RIM has requested for the files to be taken down and I want to keep the source alive so another person can use this solution. It shouldn’t be difficult locating the files and the instructions by searching Google anyway. The pre-requisites are: BlackBerry Desktop Manager v4.7.0.32 (without installing the Automatic Update service), Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, the MFI Multiloader installer itself, and an archive split in eight .rar files. I had Blackberry Desktop Manager v5 previously but MML does not work until I uninstalled it and reinstall v4.7.0.32. The files in the .rar archive are to be restored over the existing ones in C:MML only after MML is installed.

WARNING:
1. This does not seems to be working with the Blackberry Bold and Storm. Try at your own risk.
2. Please first download a suitable device software for the device from the RIM website and have it installed into the PC before proceding with the following.

After all the necessary components are installed, everything was quite straight forward from here on. First, load MML by double clicking its icon on the desktop. Ensure that both the boxes for ‘Full Erase’ and ‘Auto Start’ are checked. Then plug the Blackberry 8707h in and whatever the program is designed to do will kick in (see below).

I did not record how long it will take for the whole process, but MML will wipe the Blackberry handset (more thoroughly than JL Cmder will) along with the lock that the telco (in this case, Docomo) has placed. When it is done, you will be shown the following and you can now exit MML.

The following blurry pictures are what is displayed on the Blackberry 8707h after MML has completed its task. (below, left). Type ‘START’ on the Blackberry keypad, and you will see the next screen (below, right). The set is now ready to be reloaded with its device software. (I tried using JL Cmder to screen capture these without any luck.)

To do so, run Application Loader (loader.exe in C:Program FilesCommon FilesResearch In MotionAppLoader). Anyone who has experience with reloading Blackberry device software onto the handset will be familiar with this and I believe no screen shots are required here.

The screen capture on the right shows the powered up and unlocked Blackberry 8707h after the device software has been reinstalled. It now happily recognises the SIM card from M1 network and has established a 3G connection on the M1-GSM network. While this takes some effort to do, it’s completely free. Of course, if you are an owner of just ONE Blackberry and wish to unlock your set for use with another network, the best option would be to pay and use the unlocking services. It saves you all the trouble and you don’t have to worry about breaking your set.

Disclaimer: I take no responsibilities if anyone breaks (or ‘bricks’) a Blackberry handset following the instructions above. Follow these instructions at your own risk as I believe the telcos will not honor their warranty agreement under such circumstances.

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