Small businesses in the UAE will face significant disruption if restrictions are made to a corporate BlackBerry messaging service in the Emirates.
That is the view of a UAE businessmen, after the chief executive of telecoms firm du said he expected the clampdown to come into force next week.
David Mackenzie, director of Dubai-based recruitment consultancy Mackenzie Jones, said he fears the worst if a new rule is adopted - meaning that only firms with 20 or more BlackBerry subscriptions will be permitted access to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES).
"We are in complete confusion because that means our whole email system is going to shut down," he told 7DAYS.
His remarks are in sharp contrast with those of du boss Osman Sultan, who yesterday said he anticipates the new rule will come into effect on May 1, and does not expect it to cause problems for customers. Sultan said customers will still have access to messaging and web browsing through the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS).
But Mackenzie said this would mean firms had a lesser service, with, as yet, no reduction in cost.
BES services - which include electronic calendars and messaging service - have reportedly come under heavy scrutiny from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) because the BES encrypted message service is the most secure offered on the BlackBerry device. The service's calendars are used by firms to schedule appointments for their staff.
"It is all about connectivity, our business as one can see calendars, emails and to-do lists," Mackenzie said of the service.
Small businesses like Mackenzie's - which has three BES subscriptions through Etisalat - face a choice of buying more subscriptions or finding new ways to communicate. The former means a 600 per cent hike in his firm's bill and is untenable.
"We are a legitimate business, we have a trade licence, and a free zone licence and we have been here six years," he explained.
"Suddenly they are saying we can't have it because we are an individual. "We pay for everything else as if we are a business but suddenly the TRA is going to treat us as individuals."
The TRA did not respond to a request for comment.
Growth will du nicely for UAE telco
UAE telecoms operator du yesterday announced an impressive set of first-quarter figures, adding 272,000 new mobile subscribers and making $112 million in profits in the first three months of this year.
Despite delays to plans to introduce network sharing and mobile number portability (MNP) in the UAE, both of which analysts say should favour du at the expense of rival Etisalat, the firm still managed to up its market share to 41 per cent, du chief executive Osman Sultan said in a teleconference call yesterday.
Buoyed by growth across all of its service offerings it recorded net profit of Dhs412 million ($112 million), a 112 per cent year-on-year increase.
"We are continuing the good story of growth," said Sultan, adding that du's ongoing growth was "probably the strongest in the telecoms sector in this region".
Matthew Reed, head of Middle East and Africa mobile research at Informa Telecoms, told 7DAYS that even amidst its current strong performance, du has still been affected by regulatory hold-ups, such as the "slow progress on the regulatory changes that have been expected and are likely to favour du, such as the introduction of MNP".
The firm's bullish numbers contrast with those of Etisalat, which last week announced an 8.9 per cent drop in first-quarter profits.
© 7Days 2011
