Saudi Arabia orders BlackBerry service halt: report

Saudi Arabia is ordering its mobile operators to halt BlackBerry services throughout the country this week, heightening tensions between device maker Research in Motion Ltd. and governments demanding greater access to data sent on the phones.

The Saudi state news agency SPA said in a report late Tuesday that the country's telecom regulator has informed mobile service providers in the country that they must halt BlackBerry services starting Friday.

The regulator, known as the Communications and Information Technology Commission, couldn't 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.

RIM could not immediately be reached for comment.

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, India has cited security concerns in pushing for greater access to encrypted information sent by the phones that gets routed through the Canadian company's computers overseas.

Concerns not detailed

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 youth who see the phones' relatively secure communication features as a way to avoid attention from the authorities.

Earlier on Tuesday, RIM 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.

"We won't compromise on the security architecture of our corporate emails," said RIM's India spokesman, Satchit Gayakwad. "We respect the requirements of regulatory bodies in terms of security, but we also look at the customer's need for privacy."

U.K. Bansal, India's internal security chief, told reporters last week that he hoped the issue of BlackBerry monitoring would be sorted out soon, after widespread reports the government had threatened to ban the devices.

Analysts say RIM's expansion into fast-growing emerging markets — and the UAE's recent public showdown with the company — is threatening to set off a wave of regulatory challenges, as RIM's commitment to information security rubs up against the desires of local law enforcement.

RIM has said its discussions with the more than 175 countries where it operates are private. Gayakwad did say, however, that the Indian government has other ways of cracking data if security concerns arise. It can rifle through an Indian company's email server, for instance, or monitor phone calls, text messages or Web-based emails sent from Blackberry devices.

RIM denies concessions

\India and the UAE aren't alone in wanting more control over BlackBerry messaging. Bahrain has threatened to crack down on spreading news using the devices. And industry experts say they believe RIM offered China some concessions before the BlackBerry was introduced there.

"Clearly to acquiesce to the service's launch … the (Chinese) government has had to reach its own comfort level regarding security concerns," said Duncan Clark, chair of BDA China Ltd., a technology industry research firm in Beijing. "What precisely that involves we can only speculate."

RIM denies it has given some governments access to BlackBerry data.

"RIM co-operates with all governments with a consistent standard and the same degree of respect," the company said in a statement Tuesday. "Any claims that we provide, or have ever provided, something unique to the government of one country that we have not offered to the governments of all countries, are unfounded."

RIM said its technology does not allow it, or any third party, to read encrypted emails sent by corporate BlackBerry users. (The consumer version has a lower level of security.)