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29 March 2024

Now, get ready to stand in line for the Berry

New users who deffered decision because of ban probability expected to sign up in droves. (AP)

Published
By Staff

A decision by the UAE’s telecommunications regulators to continue BlackBerry services after an apparent agreement with its Canadian makers is expected to boost the number of subscribers in the country, according to du.

The decision also means that du will cancel plans to introduce alternative services announced just after the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said it would suspend BlackBerry services on October 11, du's Executive Vice-President Farid Faraidooni said in press remarks Saturday.

“I expect strong response from mobile phone users to the decision to continue Blackberry services….a large number of clients who wanted to subscribe to BlackBerry services apparently preferred to defer their decision until the UAE authorities reach a final solution that will guarantee the continuation of those services,” he told the semi official Arabic language daily Al Ittihad.

Faraidooni said du, one of two cellular phone operators in the UAE along with etisalat, would make fresh price offers on BlackBerry services shortly.

“Du will also put new Blackberry handsets into the market with the aim of increasing its subscribers…as for the alternative services announced earlier by du, they will not be in force any more but du will not stop its promotional services on BlackBerry in the next period for both individuals and companies.”

The UAE has an estimated 500,000 BlackBerry users, including around 100,000 for du and the rest for etisalat. It is the Gulf’s second largest base for Blackberry services after Saudi Arabia, which has more than 800,000 subscribers.

In a surprise announcement on Friday, TRA said it had scrapped its decision to suspend BlackBerry services after they became compliant with the country’s telecommunications regulatory framework.

“Therefore all BlackBerry services in the UAE will continue to operate as normal and no suspension of service will occur on October 11, 2010,” it said.

“The TRA would like to acknowledge the positive engagement and collaboration of Research In Motion (RIM) in reaching this regulatory compliant outcome,” it added, without giving details of the deal with RIM.

Al Ittihad quoted sources in etisalat as saying the company, one of the largest mobile phone operators in the Middle East, would also cancel alternative offers announced earlier to replace BlackBerry services. It said etisalat would also launch two new Blackberry handsets—BlackBerry Torch and Curve.