BlackBerry splits BBM into three services, switching platforms no longer possible after September 25

In the last couple of weeks, many BBM users ran into issues when trying to switch their BBM accounts from one platform to another. Apparently, they couldn't access their contacts, groups, and BBM channels after moving from one device to another.

Well, it turns out that BlackBerry was working on something that made the BBM servers temporarily unavailable. The Canadian company announced today that it has decided to split BBM into three separate services: BBM Enterprise for all devices, BBM Consumer for BBOS and BB10, and BBM Consumer for Android, iOS and Microsoft devices.

Among other things, the changes are meant to prevent BBM consumer accounts on BlackBerry 10 from moving their BBID to another device that runs Android, iOS or Windows Phone.

According to BlackBerry, BBM consumers on BB10 and BBOS can switch to an Android, iOS or Microsoft device using their existing BBID while maintaining all your contacts, but they will no longer be able to switch back to their BB10 or BBOS device using the same BBID.

Moreover, beginning September 25, BBM consumers will no longer be able to switch to an Android, iOS or Microsoft device using their existing BBID whatsoever. BlackBerry will allow you to switch between BBOS and BB10 devices seamlessly using your existing BBID after September 25, but switching to an Android, iOS or Microsoft device after this date will require a new BBID to re-invite contacts to the new BBM Consumer account.

BBM Enterprise users aren't affected by this change, except for the fact that they won't be able to migrate their account to a BBM Consumer account for Android, iOS and Microsoft devices using their existing BBID.

The good news is BlackBerry plans to add a new feature called MPoP (Multiple Points of Presence), which will allow users to have BBM Enterprise running on all their devices at the same time using the same BBID.