UAE remains set to ban BlackBerry services: Report

To suspend BlackBerry Services on October, 11

PTI | September 22, 2010



he United Arab Emirates will enact a ban on BlackBerry smartphone services unless progress is made in negotiations with its manufacturer, a local paper today cited an official as saying.

"So far, no progress has been made" in the negotiations on allowing the UAE to access encrypted BlackBerry data, the Dubai daily Emarat Al-Yom cited a UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority official as saying.

Unless that changes, on October 11 the UAE will go ahead with a suspension of BlackBerry services announced in August, the official added.

"The suspension will remain unchanged until we reach a solution that is fully compliant with legislation on telecommunications in the country," the official was quoted as saying.

The UAE announced in early August that BlackBerry services including messenger, web browsing and email would be suspended from October because they "allow individuals to commit violations" that the country cannot monitor.

BlackBerry's encrypted emails and data are stored on servers in Canada, which means that third parties such as security agencies cannot monitor communications sent and received on the handset.

Saudi Arabia announced a BlackBerry services ban soon after the UAE, but lifted it after the kingdom's regulator reported progress in finding a solution for its concerns.

The UAE's two main telecom companies, Etisalat and Du, in August announced options in the event of a ban for Blackberry users who subscribed before the first of that month, including signing a new one-year contract and receiving a new, non-BlackBerry smartphone.

There are an estimated 500,000 BlackBerry users in the oil-rich UAE, which has a population of around six million people.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Railways imposed ₹5.13 crore fine for food quality and hygiene violations

Indian Railways serve about 58 crore meals every year on an average. About only 0.0008% food quality related complaints are received on average. Based on complaints during the last three years, appropriate penal actions have been taken by IRCTC. Such actions include imposition of fines amounting to ₹5.13

STHAVAR: Why every Indian built asset needs a permanent digital identity

India has built digital systems for identity, payments, taxation, documents, logistics and public services. State governments, ministries, infrastructure agencies and urban local bodies have also created portals for land records, building permissions, project monitoring, property taxation and municipal s

Saksham Skill census identifies 22,000 job-ready candidates in one Mumbai ward

A first-of-its-kind AI-enabled skill census conducted in Mumbai`s H-West Ward has identified a potential livelihood pipeline of nearly 22,000 candidates, generated over 32,000 provisional job matches while revealing that 71.2 per cent of surveyed homemakers are willing to join the workforce, according to

GI tags: Scaling traditional wealth into global brands

Geographical Indication (GI) tags have emerged as a powerful tool for protecting India`s cultural heritage, while creating economic opportunities for local communities. By linking products to their place of origin, GI tags preserve traditional knowledge, prevent misuse, and enhance consumer trust. They h

BMC: 207 officials in ACB net, 112 still on duty, 68 retire before justice catches up

There are significant delays in the handling of corruption cases involving officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a Right to Information (RTI) response obtained by rights activist Jeetendra Ghadge has revealed. As of 30 April 2026, 207 BMC officials face Anti-Corruption Bureau (A

The transformation trap: Why efficiency is not innovation

Every company is transforming, or so it claims.   There was a time when the word ‘transformation’ carried weight. It signified bold strategic shifts, reinvention of business models, and breakthrough technologies that fundamentally changed how organizations created

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter