04/08/2010
Saudi to suspend BlackBerry services on Friday
Saudi Arabia will suspend some BlackBerry services from Friday, its telecommunication regulator has ordered, after the manufacturer of the devices failed to meet its demands.
The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said that “the way BlackBerry services are provided currently does not meet the regulatory criteria of the commissionand the licencing conditions,” in a statement carried by state news agency SPA.
It said that it has asked the kingdom’s three providers to suspend BlackBerry services starting on Friday after it had given them a grace period to get the manufacturer of the devices, Research In Motion (RIM), to “meet the regulatory demands.”
It said that it had warned those companies over a year ago about the need to address the issue.
The services will be banned until its demands are met, the commission added, but without elaborating on its conditions.
The announcement confirmed earlier reports that the conservative kingdom was going to follow the UAE in suspending key BlackBerry communication services which currently cannot not be monitored by security services.
Meanwhile RIM has denied allegations it had offered some governments access to customers’ data and not others.
“RIM cooperates with all governments with a consistent standard and the same degree of respect,” said the Canadian firm as the UAE alleged it was denied data given to the US government.
