BlackBerry: The grey areas

RIM says a switch used to direct messaging traffic failed at a data centre in Europe. Its back-up switch also failed,causing a backlog of traffic.

What caused the failure?

RIM has yet to disclose the cause,but a company executive said on Wednesday their technicians have identified the same. Some experts have alleged a software bug.

Was hacking involved?

The company says has seen no evidence of the same.

Why were the Americas hit?

All of RIM data centres are connected. So eventually traffic got so backed up that it had an impact on messages of customers in the Americas,the RIM executive said.

Will RIM compensate its customers?

RIM has said they are yet to take a decision on the matter.

How big is RIM network?

Nobody outside the company knows for sure. Jefferies amp; Co analyst Peter Misek estimates that there are more than six major data centres around the world and little nodes all over the place. On top of that,he said,RIM operates the worlds largest telecommunications network.

Why does RIM send the traffic through its data centres?

That is part of the special sauce behind the BlackBerry formula all BlackBerry traffic is encrypted through servers controlled by corporate clients or telecommunications carriers,then funnelled through RIM data centres that monitor the traffic to make sure it is secure.

But the central handling makes BlackBerry vulnerable to widespread outages.

Is that the only way to secure email on mobiles?

No. When RIM first launched the system in the 1990s,no competitors could offer similar features. Many alternatives have since been launched for the iPhone,Android and other devices that do not require customers to use centralised data centers.