Research In Motion reported late Wednesday that its e-mail was back up, and BlackBerry Messenger traffic was online and passing successfully in all regions where its service was previously affected.

The disruptions in the e-mail, messaging and Internet services on the phones had spread to the U.S. and Canada Wednesday and were already on the third day for Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. RIM had reported that a crucial link in the European infrastructure failed Monday and a backup was not working either. As a result, a backlog of data was generated and had to be cleared prior to restoring service.

Robin Bienfait, RIM's chief information officer, in a letter posted Wednesday on RIM's Web site, apologized for service interruptions and delays. You've depended on us for reliable, real-time communications, and right now we're letting you down, Bienfait said in the letter. We are taking this very seriously and have people around the world working around the clock to address this situation. RIM said it is working night and day to restore all services to normal. It acknowledged that subscribers in the Americas may be experiencing intermittent delays.

The main attraction for BlackBerry users is the BlackBerry Messenger or BBM. This crisis has come while RIM is fighting off agitated investors that are asking the company to explore strategic options and a new leadership. It is also facing competition from Apple's iPhone, especially with the iMessage release, which works like the BBM.

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