Unlocking an old BlackBerry Torch 9800

Unfortunately that is an old 3G phone so carriers cannot use it anymore. Going forward you need a minimum of 4G LTE. And if for AT&T it must specifically be on their approved white list as they are a bit more restrictive than other carriers.

Too bad Blackberrys didn't enter the touchscreen smart phone era very well. They used to be one of the best devices out there.

In addition to no longer being unlockable as an unsupported device...

The torch ran on blackberries BIS data plan which no longer exists and is not supported. So even if you could get it unlocked, it can't be activated anywhere and will not work anywhere. 

It's pretty much a novelty device now. 

Blackberry devices that run on Android will still work some of them are still supported and unlockable

@s_ifti 

You say "he" bought it in the US.  I assume this "he" is not you, and you are not the person who bought it? 

And, are you not in the US now?

Technically, AT&T can provide the unlock code for free, as long as the account it was on is either in good standing (no late or unpaid bills), or properly paid up and closed out.  The only way to unlock the phone is through AT&T's device unlock portal website.  But if you are not in the US, you would need a VPN to a server in the US to use it.  You would need to use the IMEI option since you are not an AT&T customer with a current AT&T phone number.

Reality is bit different. AT&T likely purged out the IMEI for that device long ago. Even if the device is eligible, they probably don't have the code in their system anymore. I tried to unlock a BlackBerry Z10 last year that I had since 2013.  The device came back as eligible, but after about two weeks, I got a notice that AT&T could not locate the code. No big deal since I wasn't planning to do anything with it anyway (I only keep it on Wi-Fi since it's no longer supported), but just thought I'd try.

I had a Torch myself from 2010 to 2013, I actually got it unlocked in early 2014 through an online unlocking service instead of going through AT&T. I can't recall for sure, but I think the unlock process was a bit different if you wanted to go through AT&T at the time. The unlocking site I used isn't around anymore, but I do recall it was free for all BBOS phones. You only needed to provide the IMEI and sometimes the PRD codes. The BlackBerry 10 phones (like my old Z10) and BlackBerry Android phones do not use those extra codes, which is why there is always a cost using an online unlocking service for regular cell phones - anywhere from 30 to 40 dollars (or whatever that exchanges to in your currency).  So, you can try to hunt down a current online unlocking site, but be careful with that. Many of those are scammers since most want money first, even for BBOS phones. It may not be as much as it costs for regular phone unlock codes, but a few are still free for BBOS phones. Just have to research them first.

@formerlyknownas is right about needing a special data plan to run such a phone to its full capability - which is not possible anymore. All BBOS phones needed either a BIS (BlackBerry Internet Services) plan for personal consumer use, or BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Services) plan for corporate, government or educational use. BlackBerry shut those services down over 2 years ago. That resulted in BBOS phones that are now hobbled in the following ways. The BlackBerry App store is gone and inaccessible. The built-in email won't work. The stock browser won't work. BlackBerry ID won't work. MMS messages won't work. Now, the phone can be used for calls and regular SMS text on carriers that still run 2G and 3G mobile cellular voice services. I know that there are still some Canadian and European carriers (and others across the globe) that have 2G and 3G running, but they will not be for much longer. Even the last hold-outs are shutting 2G and 3G down within the next couple of years.

You can read over this site, BlackBerry Bold without BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) which is a good rundown for any BBOS phone on standard cellular and data plans, not just the Bold that the site focuses on.

However, your 9800 only runs BBOS 6.0 and can't update to a newer OS, so ignore anything on that site related to OS 7.1 as it's not relevant. Also, the info on there was last updated in January 2022. I'm not sure LogicMail still works with it since most email services have updated their security protocols. Maybe POP3 and IMAP accounts still work.

So, consider all of that if you plan to use that phone. If it all sounds too much... it probably is.

Good luck.