BlackBerry Problems Strike Again

Numerous South African BlackBerry users are complaining about network downtime, but the company is mum on the issue

Numerous South African BlackBerry users have complained about network problems on Monday 10 September 2012, and Tuesday 11 September 2012, but the company is mum on the issue.

Some reports suggest that the problems were related to EMEA BlackBerry network issues, and were isolated to some pockets of BlackBerry users in the Middle East and Africa. However, this could not be confirmed.

MyBroadband’s forums had numerous complaints about BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) problems yesterday and today.

Comments like “My Vodacom BIS Service has been down from about 1AM this morning. Fortunately, I’m picking up my new cell phone (never again BlackBerry), this morning” and “Guess what? Lost my BIS again this morning!”.

BlackBerry South Africa’s Facebook page also contained comments from local BlackBerry users about the BIS downtime.

“Again blackberry internet services not working! Is there a problem somewhere please help,” said Mario Davy, a BlackBerry user.

Another BlackBerry user, Morné Laubscher, was less diplomatic: “Hey f***tards whatsup with BIS?…I’m paying for a service I’m not getting! Get your act together man!”.



Research in Motion (RIM) South Africa head Alexandra Zagury previously promised that the company will improve communication in the event of network problems, but to date the company has not said anything about the downtime.

RIM South Africa also did not respond to media questions about the problems experienced by BlackBerry users in the country.

Vodacom confirmed the problems, saying that RIM appears to have had a systems issue that affected a relatively small portion of their customer base.

“Services have now been restored,” said Vodacom. “We apologise to any customers impacted by this issue and have requested an investigation.”

Cell C also confirmed that they were experiencing problems on their network as one of their international transmission links failed. “All traffic is routed over a back-up link. We are working with our partners to restore service,” the company said.


Source: www.mybroadband.co.za