Saudi Arabia Awaits BlackBerry Fate

Saudi Arabia and RIM may have reached a deal yesterday to prevent suspension of BlackBerry services, but there could yet be another twist. RIM has until Sunday night to come up with a system that will allow operators to monitor data or BlackBerry’s instant messaging will be shut off. RIM agreed earlier this weekend to grant regulators access to all of BlackBerry’s services. “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 email, which it can monitor,” said one analyst. “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.” India is in similar talks with RIM and the government is hopeful it can strike a deal, while the United Arab Emirates said this week that it would not reverse its decision to ban Blackberry services in October.