Dubai: Business users of the BlackBerry have welcomed the continuity in services announced by the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and said they have no problems with the authorities having access to their information.
Issues related to encrypted BlackBerry services such as messaging had prompted the TRA to give the Canada-based handset manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) up to October 11 to provide the regulator with access to data.
TRA said on Friday that “Blackberry services are now compliant with the UAE’s telecommunications regulatory framework” and that “all Blackberry services in the UAE will continue to operate as normal and no suspension of service will occur on October 11”.
Kamal Vachani, director of supermarkets operator Al Maya Group and regional director of India’s Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council, told Gulf News: “We are delighted to hear this. We have become so used to BlackBerry services that it has become a part of our lives.”
Jitendra Gianchandani, chairman of business consultancy JCA International, added: “It’s a big relief. BlackBerry has become like a virtual office. I think RIM has done the wise thing by complying with the UAE’s law. We have no problem sharing information.”
Social-networking users of BlackBerry services said they were unclear on what the deal between TRA and RIM implied for the privacy of their communications.
Fraser McDonald, a graduate student of software engineering at a Dubai-based university, said: “My friends and I heard the news and were wondering what kind of monitoring systems would be applied to the data exchanged by us on BlackBerry Messaging. But the question is academic – we have nothing to hide.”
According to a Nielsen Company survey conducted for Gulf News in July and August, 72 per cent of users were ‘not worried’ about BlackBerry use being monitored.
