The threat of a ban on certain BlackBerry functions has been temporarily lifted in Saudi Arabia, a government regulator revealed on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia's Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) had successfully completed “part of the regulatory requirements” over the weekend, allowing a temporary reprieve to the threat of a block on services including email and web browsing on the company's handsets.
Authorities in Saudi Arabia had said some BlackBerry Messenger services would be blocked from Friday, August 6, citing security fears about the way the Canadian technology firm encrypts personal data on its devices. RIM transmits data through servers based outside of West Asia, making government monitoring of customer content difficult.
A CITC official said on Sunday that RIM and other Saudi mobile firms were testing domestic servers transmitting data in addition to RIM's server in Canada. Mobile phone service providers in the country — including RIM — had been given a 48-hour extension ending Monday night to address security concerns, according to Reuters.
Negotiations are thought to be underway with a number of governments in West Asia, including the United Arab Emirates, and India with a view to coming to a compromise that would suit the authorities and RIM. The UAE has said BlackBerry services will be switched off from October 11 in the country if negotiations break down. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010
