The United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans to block sales of the BlackBerry because of security concerns, while Indian authorities are weighing a similar ban.
The UAE Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced Sunday that BlackBerry email and web browsing would be banned from October 11, citing the failure of three years of negotiations with BlackBerry manufacturer RIM.
BlackBerry data services were the only such services in the UAE to be stored and managed off-shore, the statement said.
This allowed BlackBerry users “to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial, social and national security concerns for the UAE.”
TRA Director General Mohamed Al Ghanim said the two local operators, Etisalat and du, had been advised of the ruling.
“The TRA notes that Blackberry appears to be compliant in similar regulatory environments of other countries, which makes non-compliance in the UAE both disappointing and of great concern.”