The United Arab Emirates, UAE is to suspend some Blackberry mobile phone services over security concerns. The move comes amid UAE concerns that data from the devices is immediately exported offshore and managed by a foreign organization.
The state media has said some services would be suspended from October eleven until a solution compatible with local laws is reached, the
BBC reported.
According to a UAE based news website, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority confirmed on Sunday that BlackBerry Messenger, BlackBerry E-mail and BlackBerry web-browsing services in the UAE will be suspended from October 11.
Gulfnews said the suspension was a result of the failure of ongoing attempts, as far back as 2007, to bring BlackBerry services in the UAE in line with UAE telecommunications regulations.
Meanwhile another Gulf state Saudi Arabia is to prevent the use of the Blackberry to Blackberry instant messaging service with effect from later this month. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are apparently unhappy that they are unable to monitor such communications via the handsets.
In BBC’s report, UAE’s telecoms regulator had last week said the devices posed a national security risk. It follows an alleged attempt last year by the state-run telecoms company to install spyware on Blackberry handsets.
It added Blackberry maker Research in Motion has not yet commented on the latest UAE reports, as at time of reporting.
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