The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is to ban e-mail, web browsing and BlackBerry Messaging on BlackBerrys in the region from October. A statement on the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority website reads:
“Due to non-compliance with the regulatory requirements in the UAE, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) announces the suspension of BlackBerry Messenger, BlackBerry E-mail and BlackBerry Web-browsing as of October 11, 2010.
“The suspension will remain in place until these BlackBerry applications are in full compliance with UAE regulations.
“The TRA kindly requests all values BlackBerry Subscribers to visit ‘Etisalat’ and ‘du’ for alternative solutions.”
The reason for the ban lies in the way that BlackBerrys handle data. Messages are encrypted and sent via BlackBerry’s servers in Canada, which means that the UAE cannot monitor the data traffic. This has led to concerns that the phones could be used by terrorists to send messages to each other securely. The Wall Street Journal reports that the ban was announced after RIM rejected the idea of setting up a proxy server within the UAE.
“With no solution available and in the public interest, in order to affect resolution of this issue, as of October 11, 2010, Blackberry Messenger, Blackberry Email and Blackberry Web-browsing services will be suspended until an acceptable solution can be developed and applied,” says TRA director general, Mohamed Al Ghanim. “We informed both Etisalat and du that providing the option of alternative services to ensure the continuity of service from October 11 to its subscribers – both individuals and organisations – is the most important priority. 
“The TRA notes that Blackberry appears to be compliant in similar regulatory
environments of other countries, which makes non-compliance in the UAE both disappointing and of great concern.”
The UAE is not the only country taking action. The BBC reports that Saudi Arabia is banning BlackBerry Messenger, and that other countries including India are considering their options. The BBC says there are an estimated 500,000 BlackBerry users in the UAE and 400,000 in Saudi Arabia.
We have asked RIM for its reaction to the move, and while we have had no official word back from the company yet, we have had a note from RIMs PR manager for EMEA, Tom Lodge, to say he is on the case. We’ll have more news as we get it.
