RIM Web And E-Mail Services Down In Third Of The World

With the iPhone 4 out, Galaxy S II on a tear, and Nexus Prime due out very very soon, RIM decided to give its competitors a gift with an outage that probably affected one third of the world. According to Macworld UK,  Britain is definitely affected.

The BBC (via MacdailyNews) is reporting the outage extends through Europe, the Middle East, as well as Africa.  That means no e-mail, messaging, or Web access.  Carriers were pointing the finger squarely at RIM for the problems.

To be fair with the facts, it appears the outage has so far been isolated to consumer clients rather than enterprise users.  

Nevertheless, with things not so rosy for RIM, this could not have come at a worse time.  A slew of new devices from competing mobile companies are going on sale just as the EU enters the holiday seasons.  And this certainly is more of a gift to RIM's competitors than anything else.

At best, it serves as a reminder to competitors that the same thing could happen to them if they don't beef up their network.  At worst, RIM, which increasingly relies on overseas sales for growth, could see those markets shift to its competitors like Android, WP, and iOS devices. 

Who do you think will benefit the most from this?