Waterloo, Ont.-based Research In Motion (RIMM-Q67.22-2.48-3.56%) was working to fix its BlackBerry messaging systems Tuesday night after a range of service outages were reported in Canada and abroad.

Reports of e-mail delays began surfacing Tuesday evening, spreading through social networking websites.

The company confirmed Tuesday night that some "delays" are occurring throughout North and South America, and could offer no timeline for a resumption of full service.

"Some BlackBerry customers in the Americas are experiencing delays in message delivery. Technical teams are actively working to resolve the issue for those impacted," spokesperson Jamie Ernst said. "RIM apologizes for any inconvenience experienced by customers."

It appears that Internet browsing and BlackBerry messenger service was also affected, although telephone service was not interrupted.

A similar outage briefly delayed e-mail services in North America on the morning of Dec. 17. RIM said that issue had been resolved.

Later that day, the company released its better-than-expected third-quarter results, reporting a profit of $628.4-million, nearly double the figure from the year before. In a conference call, co-CEO Jim Balsillie praised the BlackBerry's secure platform for placing the device above the competition.

More to come