Emirates to Suspend BlackBerry Services

CAIRO, Egypt (Aug. 2) -- The United Arab Emirates, one of the Middle East's most significant business centers, has announced it will suspend the use of BlackBerrys due to concerns that security authorities can't adequately monitor their data flows. Media reports say unnamed officials in Saudi Arabia announced that the kingdom would follow suit later this month.

The UAE's state news agency reported Monday the decision of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) to suspend "Web browsing, social networking and instant messaging services on BlackBerry devices" from Oct. 11, 2010.

A Saudi man uses a Blackberry in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Hamad Olayan, AFP / Getty Images

The United Arab Emirates' plan to suspend BlackBerry usage would affect hundreds of thousands of domestic users as well as visitors to the Persian Gulf nation.

A BlackBerry user's inbox is updated by sending encrypted messages to servers abroad, making the transmitted messages significantly harder to monitor than those on other hand-held Internet devices.

The UAE has long been locked in a battle with BlackBerry's Canadian maker, Research in Motion, over Blackberry data. Last year, The Associated Press reports, the UAE's state-owned mobile operator, Etisalat, pushed many BlackBerry users to install an "upgrade" that would make it easier for outsiders to pry into private information stored on the phone. RIM disputed the promotion and told its users how to deprogram the spyware.

If the ban does go into effect, hundreds of thousands of domestic users in the UAE will be affected, as well as those visiting the wealthy Gulf enclave. And if other Persian Gulf countries mimic the Emirates, hampered users could reach millions.

"While roaming, the Unlimited BlackBerry Data Bundle will not be available after the suspension," the UAE state news agency reported, suggesting that visitors to the booming Gulf business center would also be subject to the ban and thus unable to pick up messages via roaming services.

Other countries, such as India, have expressed similar concerns over RIM data management. Governments cite the threat of terrorism and state security as the reasons behind the ban.

CNN reports the UAE may work out a compromise with RIM to mitigate the ban's impact on users, since many have called into question its effect on Dubai, the region's financial hub.

"It's a final decision, but we are continuing discussions with them," Mohammed Al Ghanem, director general of the TRA, told Reuters.

Countries in the region frequently block access to websites and technology that authoritarian regimes fear may destabilize their control or increase the ability of domestic opposition to mobilize. Those concerns took on a new dimension after the Internet-driven Iranian election protests in June 2009