RIM could be hit with compensation claims

Analysts said yesterday, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion could be served a compensation bill by network providers as the world's dominant provider of mobile email struggled for a fourth day with service glitches.

RIM claimed services had started looking up in all affected regions, reducing disruption for the millions of users hit by delays and outages.

However, many in the telecom industry say the outages had severely mauled the image of the Canadian company that was already in deep trouble over its slipping performance. They say the disruption would serve as a tipping point for disgruntled users to switch to rivals like Apple.

Meanwhile the company's service provider partners are said to be mulling tackling the compensation issue.

According to spokesman for Britain's Vodafone, the company was in the process of reviewing its options in terms of compensation but no decisions had been taken.

Spain's Telefonica said on its web site, it would compensate customers, in accordance with Spanish law, with Spanish Consumer Association FACUA estimating that clients would receive €0.23-1.90 for each 24 hours of service interruption.