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BlackBerry service back to normal

Digicel and CellOne said e-mail and Internet service should be back to normal for the Island’s estimated 30,000 BlackBerry customers.The question many now have, though, is will they be compensated for the massive outage that interrupted their messages and Internet services this week.Both Digicel and CellOne Blackberry customers were affected.Despite BlackBerry maker Research in Motion saying the problem had been fixed- some customers were still seeing interruptions in service because of a data backlog.CellOne marketing director Rob McNabb said yesterday: As other news outlets have reported around the world, RIM has not confirmed or agreed to any compensation to clients as of yet. We are reviewing internally, but no business decisions have been made.”Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, co-CEOs of RIM said yesterday they had not made plans yet to compensate customers, but they are turning their attention to the question.“That is something we plan to come back to these customers on very soon,” they said. “Our priority right up until this moment (has been) making sure the system’s up and running.”BlackBerry users don’t pay the company directly for its e-mail and messaging services. Instead, the phone companies pay RIM on behalf of their subscribers.Mr Balsillie said carriers haven’t asked for compensation yet.Analysts said the outage had cost Blackberry network operators a lot in terms of managing the problem.Bloomberg reported RIM may face compensation claims and reputation damage as some Blackberry network operators move to refund users hurt by the failure.Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), the world’s largest mobile-phone operator, told Bloomberg it is reviewing all optionsBlackBerry service was affected worldwide this week after a vital link in its European network failed Monday, and a backup also failed.RIM announced yesterday morning the problem had bene fixed and the system was back to normal.A Digicel statement yesterday said: “Digicel wishes to advise the public that the recent BlackBerry service issues have now been resolved and users should commence seeing their BlackBerry services operating as normal.”Digicel also advised: “If any BlackBerry subscriber is continuing to experience connectivity issues, they are advised to remove their BlackBerry battery and then reinsert in order to reboot their device. If any issues still persists then they should contact Digicel Customer Care on 500-5000.”CellOne said: “CellOne wishes to advise the public that RIM has announced that its BlackBerry service in Bermuda has been restored to normal. If you are still experiencing issues, please call CellOne at 700-7000 to troubleshoot. CellOne wishes to thank its customers for their patience during RIM’s outage period.”