P9981 issues in BBM and email

Question

Hello,
I have recently bought the P9981 through eBay. However, I am facing issues with BBM and emails. 
After I have received the phone and I updated the BBM and the software I recognized that the BBM wasn't working although I have a BlackBerry plan with At&t that is working just fine with my old bold blackberry 9900. 
I have contacted the seller and he told me that BBM wouldn't be working because there is no BIS/ BES on this device. 
After I updated the BBM I am not able to access the BBM because it shows a message saying
"Cannot Set Up BBM" and other times it shows "Setting up BBM" but it doesn't set it up !
I've searched for solutions online put I found nothing.
I called At&t and make sure that everything is activated but still it didn't work. 
Although when I first started the phone I was able to access the BBM however, it wasn't working when I tried adding people. 
I am not sure if I would be able to make it work !
Please advice !!
Thank you,

Answer 1

Hi and Welcome to the Community!
There's nothing to add to your BB per se. Using the BB-specific services is a matter of your carrier providing those to you. And there are some things that must happen for them to do so.
Any BB can be used on any carrier that runs the same radio frequencies that the BB is capable of (and I've no idea if your's are such). But, to bring a BB onto a carrier network that they did not sell to you, there are several hurdles to cross:
1) The carrier must say "yes" to the fact...they own their network and have every right to say what devices will be allowed to connect to it. If they say "no", then that's the end of it.
2) You must be sure that your BB is properly unlocked from it's originally manufactured-for carrier...see this helpful thread for details:
http://supportforums.blackberry.com/t5/General-BlackBerry-Functions-and/Unlocking-your-BlackBerry-Gu...
3) You must get all of your voice level services functioning on the carrier, before you even try anything about data
4) You must subscribe, from the carrier, to an adequate data plan to enable the BB-proprietary services you desire
5a) If the carrier directly supports your specific model BB, then you can proceed with registering the BB onto their network, generating the proper Service Book delivery to your BB, and proceeding to function.
5b) But, if the carrier does not directly support your specific model number of BB (which, from what I can tell, the AT&T network does not automatically support the 9981), then the challenges are much greater as most carrier systems will not deliver, to the BB, the necessary service books to enable the BB-proprietary data services, even if you do subscribe to them.
So, depending on all of that, your BB may or may not ever fully function on that carrier network. It can be quite tricky to accomplish, especially if 5b applies. So take a look at all of that and decide how you wish to proceed. Most folks wind up just buying a new BB if 5b applies.
The official download portal is what I use to determine if a carrier network natively and automatically supports a specific BB model number:
http://us.blackberry.com/support/apps-and-software/desktop-and-device-download-sites.html
But, that should be validated by asking the carrier the specific question: "Does your network natively support the P9981 for automatic registration and delivery of service books?".
Good luck and let us know!
Occam's Razor nearly always applies when troubleshooting technology issues!
If anyone has been helpful to you, please show your appreciation by clicking the button inside of their post. Please click here and read, along with the threads to which it links, for helpful information to guide you as you proceed. I always recommend that you treat your BlackBerry like any other computing device, including using a regular backup schedule...click here for an article with instructions.
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