UAE | General

It's the latest in a series of web disruptions, say subscribers

BlackBerry users with etisalat faced unexpected disruptions in web usage, e-mail and Black Berry Messenger (BBM) services for most of the workday on Sunday.

  • By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 22:59 October 4, 2009
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Gulf News archive
  • BlackBerry users faced major disruptions in July due to a faulty software patch.

Dubai: BlackBerry users with etisalat faced unexpected disruptions in web usage, e-mail and Black Berry Messenger (BBM) services for most of the workday on Sunday.

In a statement sent to Gulf News, etisalat said the disruptions were caused by "a problem affecting an international carrier link" which were eventually resolved Sunday. The telecommunications company did not elaborate on the matter.

However, users Monday told Gulf News that they were still unable to access the internet from their Blackberry device.

Reem J, who works in the media, said she gets to work at 10am every day but expects e-mail messages to start coming in at 9am which she relies on to plan her day before coming in to work.

"I reached work having no idea what the day's agenda would be," she said, adding that she relied on her BlackBerry for work related e-mail around the clock. The etisalat statement did not mention how long the disruptions lasted but subscribers who spoke to Gulf News said the outage ran between 8am and 2pm.

M.S, a Dubai banker, said she only faced disruptions in BBM services, which did not significantly hamper her work. Others however reported disruptions in web usage and e-mail.

Subscribers reported finding etisalat's customer support line continuously busy.

Reem said she was put on hold for "five minutes" after getting through, and was told that BlackBerry subscribers were facing "general disruptions".

"They did not have a clear idea as to what caused it or when it would be resolved," she said.

Elkin Witchwood-Green, a hypnotherapist in Abu Dhabi, said this was the latest of the disruptions he had faced with BlackBerry on etisalat. "I did not receive a single e-mail all day because of the disruptions. The reason I bought a BlackBerry was to be able to send e-mail while on the road. You can't take a laptop everywhere," he said.

Etisalat's BlackBerry users faced major disruptions in July when the telecoms company pushed a faulty software patch on to subscribers' devices which caused severe battery heating and drainage. Frustrated subscribers then complained about being left in the dark for days on the cause of the malfunction and how to resolve the issue.

Have you faced any issues with your Blackberry? Have you contacted etisalat? Were they able to fix the problem?

Your comments


I had my blackberry plan with Etisalat a month ago which now i have switched. i feel the prices of Blackberry services in UAE is over priced
Fayaz Fatoo
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 05, 2009, 16:10

Dear Editor, It's really nice that the Gulf News takes such initiatives to bring the common people problems to the authorities helps to solve them. As of now I'm also in same condition. I'm very disappointed by the service from Etisalat, I have Al Shamil at my home
Mohammad Asif
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 05, 2009, 11:16

Given the scenario wherein the telecommunication is quite expensive in the UAE the least the consumers deserves is good service. Etisalat has repeatedly failed to provide its customers with quality service.
From A Reader
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 05, 2009, 11:07

And it still continues.!!! 24++ hours now... On our BES 3 devices have not been affected, other 15 have not synced for 24 hours now..
Paras Tolani
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 05, 2009, 10:51

Even today, since morning ''Data connection refused'' appears in my Blacberry screen. Interesting, don't you think?
Thomas L.
Dibba, Al Fujairah,UAE
Posted: October 05, 2009, 10:49

customers are left in the dark as in what to do or what neccessary steps/actions to take to correct their frequent outages, or as they like to put it, "technical issues with services other then Etisalats" it was someone elses fault as usual. Monday now, and I am back to gettin no Internet/Email service. Good job Etisalat. Keep up the good work!
J.R
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: October 05, 2009, 09:11

There was no disruption at my end because I use du. I feel it is reliable and cheap. Three cheers to du.
Rafi
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: October 05, 2009, 08:07

I'm using Blackberry for the last two years and everthing was working fine till the date of selling a huge amount and subscring people to this product. Since then the service became very weak and annoying. Connecting to the web takes a long time and most of the times does not connect at all. I myself suffer alot by using this service. As long as Etisalat subscribes people to this service, the service should be strong enough to suit our need.
Mahmoud Karkain
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: October 05, 2009, 07:44

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