BlackBerry Reports Problems in Europe, Middle East

BlackBerry customers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa are experiencing problems, the smartphone's maker said in a brief statement Monday.

Research in Motion Ltd. gave few details about the issues, but telephone companies whose customers use the company's smartphones said that Internet access and BlackBerry's popular messenger service appeared to be affected.

T-Mobile UK said in messages posted online that there was an "issue with sending and receiving via the BlackBerry Messenger service as well as using BlackBerry Internet services." Vodafone UK and other phone companies left their customers similar messages.

Telecommunications company Zain Kuwait said on its Twitter feed that the issue was due to a "temporary disconnection from the main source."

The problem was "out of our control," the company said.