A mate just got a blackberry with a payg call and data pack, Blackberry are saying that he also needs to pay them £5 a month if he wants internet access, is this right and is there a way round it?

The £5 BB fee is normally part of a pay monthly package. As far as I know it will need to be paid.

Yes you need BIS to access internet, can use wireless stil tho.

So if hes got a monthly payg plan from 3 that should include the £5 fee?

They were well quiet about it when he was choosing the phone

You don’t get it for free, you still pay the fiver for it but I don’t think anyone would sell you one on contract without it. Especially as most folk get BB’s for email and messenger.

Basic web browsing should work with a basic data package. Certain apps and things like BBM and the instant email service won’t function without it.
A monthly plan would usually include it as an additional chargeable service and the sales person should make this clear for obvious reasons. No mobile phone sales person that knows their job would sell a Blackberry without the service, at least not unless they explicitly explained what it was and the customer was clear what they were and weren’t taking.
Most networks offer a PAYG booster if you are on a PAYG plan, usually £5 per month, some include reasonable amounts of data, some need additional data to be purchased as well.
T-Mobile for example charge £5 for a month on PAYG including 500mb of data (FUP with no run rates) or £20 for 6 months.
3 Charge £5 as well for a month and you get 1Gb of data AFAIK.

Im getting it all second hand, but I think he bought the phone sim free on amazon, then got a sim deal from 3 that gave him an allowance of calls, texts and data. However when he tried to go online it wouldnt work, and he got directed to a page which got him to agree to the £5 charge. Then when he looked at his account tye £5 had been taken off his £15 credit. What I cant work out is, if he bought a £15 plan, why did he have £15 credit balance, on my plan I pay a tenner a month for my plan, but my credit is zero ( android on giffgaff)

So if he has “bought” the BIS at £5 a month, it will still need to be activated. Your friend needs to contact the sim provider to get the BIS enabled on that handset.