Pressed by security concerns, the Saudi telecom regulator has given the Kingdom’s three mobile carriers until Monday to fulfill unspecified requirements before it implements a threat to shut down the BlackBerry’s Messenger.
The ban was meant to be enacted on Friday and would have affected some 750,000 users in the Kingdom.
If satisfied the three servers would grant it suitable access to BlackBerry data and communications, the regulator would allow all BlackBerry services to continue normally.
Neighboring Kuwait said it was also talking to the BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) about security and moral concerns, particularly about access for its nationals to pornographic sites.
The Canadian firm has come under scrutiny from other countries as well, including India, Lebanon and Algeria, regarding access to its encrypted network which governments want monitored to avert possible threats to national security.
Kuwait has no intention of stopping BlackBerry services for the time being but is talking to the device’s manufacturer about moral and security concerns, Communications Minister Mohammad Al-Busairi said.
“As of right now, we in Kuwait have no intention to stop the BlackBerry services ... but at the same time we are following up on direct and indirect negotiations with the company and with fellow Gulf states,” Al-Busairi said.
Bahrain and Oman said they oppose a ban on BlackBerry, a favorite tool of business travelers, while Lebanon, a frontline state with Israel, has yet to reach a decision despite its security concerns. Bahrain’s foreign minister said the country has no plans to follow its neighbors in banning some BlackBerry services because security fears do not outweigh the technological benefits.
Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed Al- Khalifah told The Associated Press the devices raise legitimate security concerns, but he says Bahrain has decided that banning some of the phones’ features is “not a way of dealing with it.”
The telecoms regulator in Saudi Arabia, the Canadian firm’s biggest Middle East market, on Saturday told the country’s three mobile firms to test a proposed fix to the perceived national security threat posed by BlackBerry smartphones. The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said it would decide whether to allow the Messenger service to continue or not “depending on the results achieved by the service providers.” It did not say what a solution would be.
“Three servers are being tested, one for each of the three mobile operators. We’re waiting for feedback (from the telecoms firms),” an official from CITC’s technical department told Reuters on Sunday.
The tests began after talks on Thursday between Research In Motion and the Saudi regulator.
The Kuwaiti minister, who is also the government spokesman, said the Gulf state had unspecified “moral and security” concerns about the use of BlackBerry, and that RIM has asked for four months to deal with its request to block pornographic sites. “We sense cooperation from the company,” Al-Busairi said.
Neighboring United Arab Emirates, where RIM has 500,000 users, has proposed a ban starting Oct. 11 targeting BlackBerry Messenger as well as e-mail and Web browsing on the device. RIM had said earlier in the week that third-party access to its network was impossible.
The confusion over the fate of BlackBerry services has infuriated some users who are still not sure if their handheld devices will continue to provide the exceptional instant messaging services or turn into ordinary phones.
“Is this a game for kids? You either cut off the service or leave it on,” said a reader commenting on Al-Riyadh daily’s website, addressing the CITC.
“I feel that you do not know what you are doing,” the commentator added.
Others joked about the uncertainty, with one mocking the telecoms regulator. “Ha-ha, you didn’t know how to switch off the service,” the blogger wrote.
