UAE stop upcoming ban on BlackBerry services; BlackBerry owners can use their devices

First they’re banning BlackBerry services, then they’re negotiating with RIM and now magically, they’ve announced that they won’t be banning them after all and will instead launch two new devices, the Torch & Curve 9300, on the UAE’s major operator, Etisalat.

Etisalat confirmed yesterday that the ban on BlackBerry services that was due to come into effect on October 11, had indeed been cancelled after intense negotiations with RIM which have also led to the impending release of the new flagship BlackBerry, the Torch 9800, and the first 3G BlackBerry Curve, the Curve 9300, on the Etisalat network.

It does seem that RIM pulled out all the stops to ensure it did not lose nearly 500,000 subscribers in the Middle Eastern region, but at what price? Originally, the UAE were demanding that RIM route all BlackBerry Internet Service data through a server based in the UAE which would allow the goverment to monitor usage in an apparent bid to counter terrorist activities.

Despite offering cheap alternatives to entice people away from BlackBerrys (prior to the upcoming ban being cancelled), it seemed that the nearly half million subscribers were happy to keep using their BlackBerrys with many believing the ban would not happen and a deal would be reached. Furthermore, it seems that news of the talks between the government and RIM filtered through to ground level as such, as it appears that with a ban potentially set to come into place, shop keepers reduced prices massively on BlackBerrys and a few days ago, all of them increased the cost with no apparent reason.

One thing is clear though; the UAE may have got its way now, but RIM certainly faces potential issues in the future; as more countries and regions become concious of terrorism and the way in which BlackBerry Messenger can be used as a communication device, more of those will start demanding the same sort of access currently being granted to the UAE, India & Saudi Arabia.

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Category: Opinion