RIM wins reprieve in Gulf states

Michael Carroll
11 Oct 2010
00:00

RIM has avoided a ban on its BlackBerry smartphones in the United Arab Emirates following eleventh-hour talks with the telecoms regulator.

The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority stayed a ban on sales of the smartphones on Friday, stating that RIM’s BlackBerry services now comply with its regulatory framework and “will continue to operate as normal.”

It had threatened to suspend services from today due to concerns encrypted data sent via offshore BlackBerry servers posed a security risk, the BBC reported.

While the regulator acknowledged RIM’s “positive engagement,” in resolving the problem, US secretary of state Hilary Clinton may also have had a hand in the deal, after discussing the potential ban with UAE officials in August.

Canada-based RIM has come under increasing pressure this year to offer access to encrypted BlackBerry e-mails and instant messages, with Saudi Arabia, India and Lebanon all threatening to ban the handsets if RIM didn’t comply.

The vendor has also reached a deal with Saudi authorities, but Indian security officials have rejected its technical solution for allowing access to data and have given it until October 31 to come up with a new fix.

MORE ARTICLES ON: BlackBerry, Blackberry ban, Regulation, RIM, Smartphones, UAE

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