Ofcom has published new research showing the highest-rated and lowest-rated communications providers for customer service.

It notes that overall satisfaction is higher with mobile (69%) and pay TV (68%) than it is with fixed broadband (58%) and fixed-line (61%) telephone services.

Following problems with BlackBerry online services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa since Monday, RIM has now confirmed that users in the Americas are also suffering delays.

Email, web access and BlackBerry Messenger have all been affected.

Many UK BlackBerry users have been unable to access web and email services today.

The problem seems to involve one of RIM’s servers, because corporate customers with their own server don’t seem to have been affected.

Ofcom has published its latest quarterly complaints data, showing the major telecoms providers that generated the most complaints between April and June 2011.

In the mobile sector, Ofcom received the most complaints about Three UK. The network - which was also top for complaints in the previous report - had 0.14 complaints per 1000 customers, an increase from the previous quarter. Ofcom says the increase in complaints seems to have been driven by customer billing and customer service issues.

Mark Bridge writes:

If you’ve worked in retail, you’re probably aware of the ‘mystery shopper’. This is someone who appears to be a regular consumer but is actually reviewing your performance. Perhaps they’re working for your employer, maybe they’re conducting an independent survey, they may even be reporting for a magazine or newspaper. But they’re about as welcome as a knock on the front door when you’re at home in the shower.