RIM, operators, offer make-good

BUSINESS

BlackBerry maker RIM and several operators are offering users free apps and refunds to make up for the three days of BlackBerry service interruptions last week.

Research In Motion (RIM) announced today that a selection of premium apps worth a total value of more than USD100 would be offered free of charge to subscribers as an expression of appreciation for their patience during the recent service disruptions.

The apps will be made available to customers on BlackBerry App World from Wednesday and will continue to be available until December 31, 2011.

“Our global network supports the communications needs of more than 70 million customers,” said RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis. “We truly appreciate and value our relationship with our customers.  We’ve worked hard to earn their trust over the past 12 years, and we’re committed to providing the high standard of reliability they expect, today and in the future.”

RIM’s enterprise customers will also be offered one month of free technical support. 

Airtel Nigeria announced that it would offer its BlackBerry customers a three-day service waiver.

Rajan Swaroop, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Airtel Nigeria said: “We remain concerned about the inconvenience this has caused to all our BlackBerry users earlier this week and we would like to compensate both our pre paid and post paid customers for the inconvenience as best we can.

Operators in South Africa said they would reimburse customers for the downtime, while in other countries, such as Ghana, customers are still calling for a refund on their BlackBerry services fees.