He told delegates at Gitex that the UAE is “an advanced ICT nation,” but steered clear of commenting on the threatened ban on BlackBerry services.
The new deal includes the e-government services and online banking payments for consumers in the Middle East.
The UAE — which has half a million BlackBerry users — this month dropped a threat to suspend BlackBerry services and said it reached a deal with the Canadian smartphone maker after it agreed to comply with its regulations.
RIM has been in dispute this year with a number of countries in the Gulf Arab region and elsewhere over its encrypted email and messaging services, which they want to monitor.
It has already reached a deal with the UAE and Saudi Arabia over access, though RIM hasn’t given any details of what it has done to resolve the dispute. It remains in talks with India.
“We are excited to build on our success in the region and to deepen our commitment to delivering industry-leading products and services for consumers, businesses and government organizations,” said Balsillie.
Mohammed Al-Ghanem, director general of the UAE’s telecoms regulatory authority, declined to comment on what the solution was or whether it included placing a server in the UAE.
Ghanem told reporters on the sidelines of the event: “RIM is now in compliance with the UAE’s telecoms regulations and there is a strategic co-operation between the authority and RIM.”
The TRA had previously said the company’s secure messenger service, which encrypts user data and routes communications through servers outside the country, is a threat to the UAE’s national security. It threatened to shut down BlackBerry services in the UAE on October 11 unless the company found a way to comply with local laws governing electronic communications.
Neither the TRA nor RIM has released details on the agreement that will allow BlackBerry services to continue operating in the UAE, but security experts are speculating that the Canada-based company has a network operations center (NOC) in the country.
Balsillie on Monday also unveiled the new BlackBerry Torch smartphone, which uses the new BlackBerry 6 operating system, for the first time in the region.
“This is a market we’re so excited about,” Balsillie said in a keynote speech at the show, praising the role technology plays in the UAE. He also underscored the UAE’s potential to become a global leader in the telecommunications and information technology sector.
In addition, Balsilie announced the regional launch of a number of BlackBerry products and services, including an Arabic-language application service, the new BlackBerry 6 operating system and the BlackBerry Torch, the company’s latest phone.
— With input from agencies
