According to our information, the issues seem to be a technical problem at the Vodafone end.

So in case you’re a BlackBerry user from Mumbai it may take a little while before the service is restored to normal. Since there’s no time frame specified by Vodafone, we can only hope it gets back on track soon.

Following the runaway success of Apple’s AppStore, Vodafone said on Tuesday it would launch software to allow content partners and developers to create Web applications that could be used across its entire range of phones to reach millions of customers. The developers will be able to charge for the applications directly through Vodafone’s billing system and will get a 70 percent revenue share.

The first applications will be available towards the end of the year in the UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Greece, Portugal and Ireland and Vodafone said it expected to expand the service in the future.

As phone makers and operators search for ways to stimulate demand and differentiate themselves in a saturated market, software that is easy and inexpensive to access has proven popular. Apple’s AppStore lets iPhone users download thousands of small software programmes that personalise the way they play games, get directions and listen to music. It said in April that customers had downloaded 1 billion applications in just nine months. After witnessing the huge Apple success, mobile groups, including market leaders Nokia, Microsoft Blackberry and others, have raced to launch their own software stores this year.

“We have got the required approvals from the government and will launch BlackBerry services by next month,” BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

At present, four telecom operators – Reliance Communications, Airtel, Vodafone and Tata Teleservices – are providing BlackBerry services.

BlackBerry phones offer a host of services, including allowing users to access their e-mail on the move.

BlackBerry devices, manufactured by the Canada-based Research In Motion (RIM), had earlier come under scrutiny after Indian security agencies expressed concern that the data being transmitted through the device could not be intercepted due to the high encryption codes being used by the company.

However, Canadian Minister of of Industry Tony Clement, after a meeting with Communications Minister A. Raja in February, had said the security concerns over the BlackBerry phones had been “resolved as far as possible”.

Vodafone Essar Director Marketing and New Business Harit Nagpal reported, “The market for smartphones in India is at a very nascent stage and growing rapidly. ‘Blackberry Storm’ takes the 3G experience a step forward.”

It should be noted that the first “clickable” touchscreen smartphone from Blackberry, ‘Storm’ has been developed by RIM for exclusive distribution through Vodafone globally and carries a price tag of Rs. 27,990.

The users would be glad to knonote t hat Storm provides a lot of space for visual experience, an advantage over earlier Blackberry models and its touchscreen keypad can be removed, when not in use.

RIM Vice President (UK) Christoph Lingenthal informed, “We received a tremendous response for Storm when it was launched in Europe a few months back, despite the recession. We hope that very many handsets will be lapped up in India when it hits the market on January 15.”

For transmitting e-mails through servers located outside the country, encrypted data is used by blackberry phones.

Following the 26/11 terror attacks, these phones came under the Department of Telecom’s (DoT) scanner, since regulatory bodies could not monitor the data, heightening security concerns.