Saudi Telecom Company (STC) sent an SMS to their subscribers on Monday claiming that the BB Messenger (BBM) service would not work for four hours so Canadian manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM) could carry out maintenance work.

It has been three days since the message was sent and the service is still not working.

"I received another message from STC claiming that they will provide BB users free access to the service for three days as compensation," said Ameenah Al-Saadi, a BlackBerry owner in Riyadh. "I'm still waiting for my BB to work because it's the only way I can communicate with my friends and family outside the Kingdom."

Ahmed Zakarti, another BlackBerry owner in Dhahran, says that he feels like he is out of reach because of the service disruption. "BBM is now an essential communication tool for many of us and we have depended on it to communicate with friends and family because it's cheaper than texting," he said. "I'm glad that they did not disconnect the email and Internet as well. I can still receive and send emails and I can also browse the Internet. But BBM is what make BlackBerrys special because it is unique.”

There has been confusion among Saudi subscribers who have demanded updates from the service providers. “My BB has been acting weird since I received the SMS from STC. It was completely disconnected for almost six hours on Monday, then the service started to come and go until now," said Jeddah-based Mohammed Kamal. "I'm upset about this especially as STC is not updating subscribers on what is going on and for how long is the service going to be disconnected."

Hamza Khushaim, a BlackBerry subscriber in Alkhobar, is extremely upset about losing contact with global hedge funds he does business with. "I haven't been able to receive BBMs from my contacts inside and outside the Kingdom over the last couple of days. This makes me anxious about what's going on with my business contacts, especially the ones that operate abroad," he said.

"I hope that the BlackBerry service providers in Saudi Arabia would notify and update their clients about the recent connection status especially after the previous news about stopping BB service here," he added.