Millhouse

Oh great. I'm expecting to spend a lot of time in Syria soon - and no BB. I might actually like the place.

typical

It's become a bit of a mantra of my colleagues in Damascus... "No BB, no email, please phone me"

Autonomy

A lot of time... not sure I'd be too keen to be honest.... liked it, but extended time there, not sure.

If you do go - let me know - can sort you out with some F.O.C. cinema tickets to entertain you if you like....

Little Toot

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10830485

BBC news states the decision is final. Analysis says it is "controversial"

twisty100

Dubai gets better and better...

What a disaster...

hnd

Some more opinions to look at:

http://blog.grapeshisha.com/2010/08/...y-and-uae.html

http://fakeplasticsouks.blogspot.com...ban-barmy.html

Thanks to both of the above bloggers.

alfrombarking

Probably the only solution which doesn't end up damaging RIM's reputation or possibly opening them up to a back handed lawsuit (i.e. Saudi guy in England on business shoots an email to someone in Sweden - RIM has violated his privacy because he wasn't on Saudi soil at the time and RIM gave the government access to read his email)

Millhouse

Thankfully it will be 3-4 day visits once a month or so - so enough to annoy you but not enough to get bored. I will find a hotel with a gym...

thecentennial

Saudi also banning BB this month:

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/59387...blackberry-ban

typical

Already posted - and it's only BBM in Saudi that'll be (allegedly) banned, for now.

ex_exile

Do you guys remember the mass spyware BB incident (all put on by the telco) from last year? For some reason UAE does not like the security on Blackberries.

AppleMac

Probably the best option as you say - but is it affordable from RIM's perspective?. RIM have given the governments in all their major markets (US, Europe, China) free access to their data and the UAE is simply asking for the same. However if RIM cave in to the UAE (and Saudi, and Kuwait etc.) then every government in the world is going to want their own proxy servers and that will cost RIM big bucks.

I can't really see how RIM gets around this issue.

Autonomy

that's pretty much my take on this as well.... now the question is who is going to blink first, if at all....

Madam Medusa

well retailers have apparently now been told to stop new subscriptions...
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/59391...-subscriptions

MM, xx

Millhouse

It also affects roaming Blackberries.

Of ZAWYA DOW JONES

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--International visitors to the United Arab Emirates may soon find that the main functions on their BlackBerrys won't work if the Gulf Arab state's ban on the smartphone's primary services is enforced from October as announced by the local regulator Sunday.

The U.A.E. telecom regulatory authority said Monday, in an emailed statement to Zawya Dow Jones, that BlackBerry services such as instant messaging and email, which the country's telecom regulator plans to ban from Oct. 11, also won't be available for international roaming users in the country once the ban is implemented.

"Roaming for BlackBerry messenger, BlackBerry email and BlackBerry web-browsing will also be suspended as of 11 October, 2010," the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, or TRATelecommunication Regulatory Authority, or TRA, said.

The TRATRA said Sunday it would prohibit BlackBerry instant messaging, email and Internet-browsing services starting Oct. 11, after what officials in the country say has been a long-running dispute with the device's maker, Canada's Research In Motion (RIMM), about how it stores electronic data.

The regulator said the ban was the result of the "failure of ongoing attempts, dating back to 2007, to bring BlackBerry services in the U.A.E. in line with U.A.E. telecommunications regulations." Some BlackBerry services "operate beyond the enforcement" of current telecommunications regulations in the country, the TRATRA said in a statement.

RIM officials in London weren't immediately available for comment when contacted by Zawya Dow Jones Monday.

BlackBerry services are available in 138 countries, according to BlackBerry's Web site. If the ban is enforced, the U.A.E. will join a short list of countries where the mobile device is prohibited.

BlackBerry, which commands around 20% of the global smartphone market, has an estimated 500,000 users in the U.A.E.

MITIGATE

"I believe RIM will be impacted the most and it should come up with a solution in order to mitigate the impact of the decision," said Badii Kechiche, senior analyst at Pyramid Research in London.

An official at Emirates Telecommunications Corp.Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (ETISALAT.AD), or EtisalatEtisalat, the country's biggest telecommunications provider, said Monday BlackBerry customers who bought their devices and Sim cards in the U.A.E. would be able to use all BlackBerry services while roaming outside the country.

"If you have a U.A.E. Sim card you can use it (the services) outside the U.A.E.," the official, who declined to be named, said. "If you are on international roaming and are in the U.A.E. you cannot use it even if you have a U.K. Sim card."

International mobile operators are likely to be somewhat affected by the U.A.E.'s decision, though not on a major scale, Pyramid's Kechiche said.

"Roaming is one element of the mobile operator's revenue. It depends on how many subscribers travel to the U.A.E. but it's not a major strategic threat at this point," he said. "Generally speaking, total roaming revenue contributes about 5% of mobile operator revenue; the contribution of any operator's BlackBerry specific roaming charges in the U.A.E. will be minimal."

In Saudi Arabia, an official at the Communications and Information Technology Commission, or CITC, Sunday said the regulator had ordered telecom firms operating in the country to stop BlackBerry messenger services later in August.

An official at Qatar's telecom regulatory authority Monday said it has no plans to follow its Gulf neighbors and ban BlackBerry smartphone services.

-By Tahani Karrar-Lewsley, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1692; [email protected]

(Alex Delmar-Morgan in Dubai contributed to this report.)