With a recent router failure leading to an outage of service for Vodafone subscribers using Research In Motion (RIM)'s Blackberry handsets, data services remained inaccessible for BlackBerry users on Vodafone.

The glitch was largely confined to the BlackBerry users on the Vodafone network; with the affected users not being able to access email and instant messaging services. The Vodafone customers who were most hit by the outage included those who run their own BlackBerry Enterprise Server, as well as those who reliant on the RIM infrastructure.

According to reports, the Vodafone customers affected by the outage chiefly comprised BlackBerry users on the carrier's network across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East; and services are now being gradually restored to them.

Meanwhile, when frustrated BlackBerry users on Vodafone were trying their best to deal with the outage, both RIM and Vodafone were apparently blaming each other for the service disruption.

Vodafone said in a message on its Vodafone's support forums that the carrier was "aware that some BlackBerry customers are experiencing issues," and that it was working closely with RIM to fix the issues.

However, RIM, on the other hand, said that while all BlackBerry services were operating normally, a wider Vodafone service issue was affecting some of its BlackBerry customers; and added: "We are supporting Vodafone's efforts to resolve the issue as soon as possible."