BlackBerry breaks wall of silence; describes current status in lay terms

Research in Motion, the BlackBerry maker, following a press call earlier this evening, issued a statement describing the current status of the service across the world.

The company had been criticised by the lack of communication, and where it had, it had not been clear what was happening by using technical jargon, for which many users did not understand.

Nevertheless, while the backlog of data is flushed through the vast BlackBerry infrastructure, do not expect the issues to be fixed overnight.

Users should be reminded that when the vast email flow does commence, to enable Wi-Fi on their BlackBerrys to ensure that the download does not impede their data plans.

In an update to customers, RIM CIO Robin Bienfait said:

I want to first apologize for the service interruptions and delays many of you have been experiencing this week. I also wanted to connect with you directly, give you an update on the service issues we are trying to solve, and answer some of the questions and concerns you’ve expressed.

You’ve depended on us for reliable, real-time communications, and right now we’re letting you down. We are taking this very seriously and have people around the world working around the clock to address this situation. We believe we understand why this happened and we are working to restore normal service levels in all markets as quickly as we can.

The issues break down like this:

For Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA):

Email systems are operating and we are continuing to clear any backlogged messages. Support teams are working to minimize the impact on our customers.
BBM traffic is online and traffic is passing successfully
Browsing is temporarily unavailable as the Support teams monitor service stability and continue to assess when this service can be safely brought online
Support teams have added capacity to help with message delivery between regions and continents

For Canada and Latin America:

Email systems are operating and we are continuing to clear any backlogged messages. Support teams are working to minimize the impact on our customers
BBM and browsing services are online and traffic is passing successfully (except for three carrier networks in Latin America that are serviced by the EMEIA infrastructure – browsing is temporarily unavailable for those three carrier networks)
Support teams are investigating reports of BBM delays

For the U.S.:

Email systems are operating and we are continuing to clear any backlogged messages. Support teams are working to minimize the impact on our customers.
Support teams have added capacity to help with message delivery between regions and continents
BBM and browsing services are online and traffic is passing successfully
Support teams are investigating reports of BBM delays

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