Research In Motion was able to avoid a BlackBerry ban in the United Arab Emirates and it has now struck a deal with regulators and mobile operators to bring a variety of mobile services to the region.
The deal could bring mobile payment and banking services to BlackBerry smartphones in the region and it’s a strong turnaround between the handset maker and the region. It was only a few weeks ago that we were worried that the UAE would ban the BlackBerry for not complying with government-mandated rules.
In particular, the beef was that government officials wanted the ability to get to encrypted data sent via BlackBerry. RIM stuck to its guns and said that no one, not even the company itself, could break this encryption. It looked like there would be an end to the relationship but a solution was reached.
There’s no word on what RIM had to do to be in compliance, but it could be that it installed local servers to give the UAE more access. There are still lingering concerns in other countries but this deal shows that RIM can work with governments despite public differences.
[Via Financial Times, photo]
