Saudi Arabia is ordering its mobile operators to halt BlackBerry services throughout the kingdom this week, heightening tensions between device maker Research in Motion and governments demanding greater access to data sent on the phones. The Saudi state news agency SPA said in a report that the countrys telecom regulator has informed mobile service providers in the country that they must halt BlackBerry services starting on Friday.
The regulator, known as the Communications and Information Technology Commission, could not immediately be reached for comment to provide details of the ban or say how it would be enforced. It said the suspension of service was being implemented because BlackBerry service "in its present state does not meet regulatory requirements", according to the SPA report.
Word of the ban comes just days after the neighbouring United Arab Emirates announced it was planning to shut down email, messaging and web browsing on BlackBerrys starting in October. India is also in talks with RIM over how information is managed on the devices. Like the UAE, it has cited security concerns in pushing for greater access to encrypted information sent by the phones that gets routed through the Canadian companys computers overseas.
Saudi Arabia did not spell out its concerns about the devices, though its government is also wary of security threats. As in the UAE, Saudi BlackBerry phones are popular both among businesspeople and young people who see the phones relatively secure communication features as a way to avoid attention from the authorities. Earlier, RIM had denied that it had agreed to heightened surveillance of its corporate clients by the Indian government, as talks continue over access to emails and other data sent on the devices.