BlackBerry users hit with temporary email outage

BlackBerry users across the country yesterday were temporarily without email access, but BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said the outage was not a systemic problem.

From about 1 p.m. EDT to about 4 p.m. EDT, subscribers who use BlackBerry email service through their wireless carrier could not send or receive email or use the BlackBerry Internet Service website. Subscribers also lost access to a slew of other features, including the ability to create new accounts, access their Internet mailboxes or see attachments. Subscriber at all of the Tier 1 operators reportedly complained of the outage, and Sprint Nextel confirmed that there had been one.

RIM spokeswoman Marisa Conway said that "some customers experienced a delay receiving email earlier today, but it wasn't system-wide." The email service is now operating normally, she said.

RIM offers two services for getting email. The first is RIM's enterprise solution, in which companies use a BlackBerry server that links directly to a subscriber's email, contacts, calendars and business applications. The other one is BlackBerry Internet Service, which gives access to personal email services and in which wireless carriers serve as a connection between subscribers' email and the device.

For more:
- see this CNET article

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