As BlackBerry ban nears, no clear signal

A shop window in Dubai still advertises the BlackBerry a week before a ban would take effect.

With just one week to go before the planned switch-off, BlackBerry users and their employers are waiting to see whether an agreement can be reached to keep the service going.

Only if it is not, they say, will they worry about handing over their phones. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has said it plans to instruct Etisalat and du to withdraw key services on October 11 unless an agreement can be reached.

But continued negotiations between authorities and Research In Motion (RIM), the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry, have left many owners doubting that a ban will happen.

Senior officials said last week they were optimistic that a deal could be reached with RIM that would meet the Government's security concerns.

India granted RIM a two-month extension recently after threatening to ban BlackBerry service unless the company provided authorities with the means to monitor messages.

RIM has reportedly encountered technical problems in its effort to give Indian officials access to corporate BlackBerry messages but has successfully installed a monitoring programme for its messenger service.

In August, authorities in Saudi Arabia announced that the country would not ban BlackBerry's messenger service while efforts to find a solution continued.

There are an estimated 500,000 BlackBerry users in the UAE, many of whom have been issued the devices by their employers. Many larger companies have drawn up contingency plans for next week, including issuing new phones to their staff.

Fortune Promoseven, an advertising agency with offices throughout the Middle East and North Africa, is looking at providing its Dubai staff with BlackBerry plans in other countries, such as through Vodaphone in Egypt, but has yet to act.

"Because we're constantly on the move, while in the UAE, we'll have an exchange, and while outside, we'll have BlackBerrys," said Arun Krishna, the regional IT director for the agency.

Other smaller companies, even those that have international offices, have not decided on a course of action.

"I don't think we believe [the ban] will go through, from a work perspective we don't have any back-ups in place," said Louisa Brown, a recruitment consultant at Swisslinx, which has offices in Zurich, Geneva and Dubai.

In August, both Etisalat and du announced new packages for existing BlackBerry subscribers. Most involved signing a new one-year contract that includes a non-BlackBerry "smartphone".

Some companies, however, plan to stick with their BlackBerrys even if the services are switched off.

Halima Anderson, the director of operations at Ethos Consultancy, said her company would probably stay with BlackBerrys, which would still be able to connect to the internet and use e-mail.

Since the TRA announced the impending ban the market for BlackBerry handsets has slowed considerably.

Mohamed al Tharique, a supervisor in Jumbo Electronics shop in Mall of the Emirates, said sales had dropped by about 40 per cent.

According to Ayaz Mahmood, a salesman at a kiosk also in Mall of Emirates, sales have fallen but not by much. Most of the recent buyers have been tourists.

"BlackBerrys are still moving at the malls where customers are international, but at other places, not as much," he said.

Sherwet Khouga, an account manager for an international company, said she was waiting for the ban to be called off. "I keep talking to everyone I know to get new information," she added.

If BlackBerry services are switched off, she has already decided to replace her device with an iPhone.