Saudi Arabia Tests BlackBerry Monitoring as Messaging Ban Deadline Nears
Saudi Arabia Extends Deadline for BlackBerry Shutoff
Jonathan Gainer/Bloomberg
The situation is being closely watched because Saudi Arabia is one of a growing number of countries in which RIM faces scrutiny.
The situation is being closely watched because Saudi Arabia is one of a growing number of countries in which RIM faces scrutiny. Photographer: Jonathan Gainer/Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia delayed its decision on shutting off Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry instant messaging until midnight today, giving carriers more time to test a system that can monitor user data and avert a ban.
“Appropriate action on whether to suspend the service” will be taken after the proposed solution is shown to comply with regulatory requirements, the state-run Saudi Press Agency cited a statement from the Saudi telecommunications regulator as saying. Saudi Arabia has said it wants to monitor BlackBerry messages to prevent terrorism and illegal activities.
The Saudi situation is being closely watched because it’s one of a growing number of countries in which Canada’s RIM faces scrutiny over its BlackBerry e-mail and messaging services. The United Arab Emirates, India and Indonesia have also expressed concern that such mobile communications could be used to violate laws or national mores.
“The sooner they reach agreements and publicize them, the better,” said Pierre Ferragu, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein in London. He has an “underperform” rating on RIM. If the situation is not resolved “it could end up pushing users to go for an alternative brand in order to avoid problems if the service were actually shut off.”
The Associated Press reported Aug. 7 that RIM reached a deal in Saudi Arabia that would allow authorities to monitor messages, citing an unidentified Saudi regulatory official. The accord involves installing a server inside Saudi Arabia to let authorities check the data of BlackBerry users, it said.
Still Working
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that RIM had reached a preliminary agreement with carriers and Saudi regulators to install local servers, citing an official with a Saudi telecom operator. A formal deal between the three parties is in the final stages of negotiations, the paper reported citing an official with a Saudi carrier, without specifying if it was the same one.
Saudi Arabia had earlier ordered its operators to turn the service off on Aug. 6. The service, however, has mostly remained on, users said. Services in the kingdom are “still working,” Farouk Miah, an analyst at NCB Capital in Riyadh, said yesterday.
An unidentified RIM official was cited by Saudi Arabia’s Okaz newspaper yesterday as saying that the company and regulators had “agreed on everything.”
Tenille Kennedy, a RIM spokeswoman based at the company’s Waterloo, Ontario headquarters, today declined to comment on the press reports.
No Special Access
Nadine Hani, a business presenter on Al Arabiya television, reiterated yesterday that “the BlackBerry instant messaging service in the kingdom will not stop.”
Sultan al Malik, a spokesman for the commission, and Etihad Etisalat Co., the service provider known as Mobily, didn’t respond to e-mails seeking comment on the reported agreement.
RIM said in a statement Aug. 4 that it cooperated with governments around the world with standard practices and that any reports it gave special access or information to certain authorities were inaccurate.
Saudi Arabia’s wireless operators include Mobily, Saudi Telecom Co. and a unit of Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co. known as Zain KSA. The carriers had been told to stop messaging services after a yearlong consultation with RIM failed to bring BlackBerry functions in line with Saudi Arabia’s telecommunications laws, the regulator said Aug. 4.
‘Legitimate Security Concern’
The delay came after U.S. and Canadian authorities began talks with foreign governments about potential BlackBerry bans.
“There is a legitimate security concern,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Aug. 5, “but there’s also a legitimate right of free use and access.”
Turkey’s telecommunications regulator Aug. 6 said there are “serious” security weaknesses related to BlackBerry services in the country, adding that it has set up a committee to look into the matter.
The U.A.E. said in a statement Aug. 4 that it wouldn’t be changing its decision to ban BlackBerry service in October and that it was open to discussions aimed at achieving a solution.
RIM rose $1.22 to $53.45 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading Aug. 6, ending four days of declines. The stock has dropped almost 23 percent this year.
RIM said Aug. 4 that it couldn’t meet requests from governments that it reveal codes for reading some users’ communications. The corporate service was designed to prevent RIM, or anyone else, from reading encrypted information.
‘Overblown’
“In some sense, the Saudi drama has been overblown as the government is already monitoring every other handset maker in the region offering SMS and e-mail, which it can monitor,” said Tero Kuittinen, an analyst with MKM Partners in Greenwich, Connecticut. He has a “buy” rating on the stock. “It’s only a question of whether RIM is going to go the level of other vendors, or if RIM is going to be particularly accommodating.”
The Indian government is still in talks with RIM over BlackBerry services in the country and is hopeful an agreement can be reached, Telecommunications Minister Andimuthu Raja said Aug. 5. India may ban RIM services unless the company agrees to resolve security concerns, a government official with knowledge of the matter said this past week.
RIM has about 1.2 million subscribers in Indonesia, 1.1 million in India, and a combined 1.2 million in the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, said Mike Abramsky, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. RIM had 46 million subscribers globally at the end of May.
“What the market wants is less uncertainty,” said MKM’s Kuittinen.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mourad Haroutunian in Riyadh at mharoutunian@bloomberg.net; Hugo Miller in Toronto at hugomiller@bloomberg.net
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