Saudi Arabia fails to impose BlackBerry ban

Saudi Arabia's three mobile network operators were awaiting instructions on Monday from the kingdom's telecommunications regulator agency on whether to shut off Research in Motion's BlackBerry instant messaging service, which the authorities wish to access and monitor.

The BlackBerry messaging service - an encrypted text messaging service that enables users to communicate?with?each other quickly and in secret - was still operating on August 9. Reports of a possible agreement between RIM and the Saudi authorities on the use of the BlackBerry Messenger service fuelled hopes that the Saudi ban might be averted. In Washington a US State Department spokesman said that officials planned to meet the company and ask whether an agreement had been reached. A deadline imposed on RIM and the local telecoms operators to meet Communications and Information Technology Commission security requirements had been expected to come into effect on Monday.