Saudi Arabia and India move against BlackBerry

The row Rim has found itself in over security aspects of its BlackBerry range has deepened, with Saudi Arabia announcing it is going to ban the use of the handsets.

The Press Association reports that the government in Saudi Arabia is ordering operators to halt BlackBerry data services such as email and web browsing, due to security issues.

The government didn’t directly spell out its reasons for the ban which begins at the end of this week, but it did say that the suspension was being brought in because the BlackBerry service “in its present state does not meet regulatory requirements”, according to the Press Association.

The United Arab Emirates has also recently moved to shut down communication services on BlackBerry in the coming months. As has India, citing the fact that emails and other data sent via BlackBerry couldn’t be monitored by them.

According to the Economic Times, an Indian security official told them: “We are very clear that any BlackBerry service that cannot be fully intercepted by our agencies must be discontinued. Offering access to data is part of the telecom licensing guidelines and has to be adhered to.”

It’s turning into quite a pickle for Rim, but the company is moving to quickly reach a compromise, certainly in India where the Economic Times claims it’s working with mobile operators to grant access to consumer emails within two weeks.

Rim does also point out, however, that these countries might find it difficult to shut their services down, as the governments themselves rely on the security of encrypted BlackBerry communications, too.

Rim’s CTO, David Yach, told the Independent: “I believe they’ll have trouble pulling the trigger to shut down BlackBerry. Most governments in the world rely on BlackBerry.”