BlackBerry Confirms it’s Exit From Pakistan

Chief Operating Officer Marty Beard revealed in a post on the smartphone manufacturers’ website that BlackBerry will not work in Pakistan after 30th November 2015.

Beard says:

“The company will exit the market because remaining in Pakistan would have meant forfeiting our commitment to protect our users’ privacy.”

BlackBerry Confirms it’s Exit From Pakistan

The COO says:

“In July, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority notified the country’s mobile phone operators that BlackBerry’s BES servers would no longer be allowed to operate in the country starting in December ‘for security reasons’.”

“Pakistan’s demand for open access to monitor a significant swath of our customers’ communications within its borders left us no choice but to exit the country entirely.”

Beard added.

He further revealed that the Government of Pakistan wanted the capability to monitor all BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) traffic in the country, such as emails and BlackBerry Messenger messages.

“Pakistan’s demand was not a question of public safety; we are more than happy to assist law enforcement agencies in investigations of criminal activity. Rather, Pakistan was essentially demanding unfettered access to all of our BES customers’ information.”

The COO said.

The condition in Pakistan was turning worse not well, as companies to whom secrecy of data and security of speech is of key importance would be cautious of establishing their presence in the country said Director BoloBhi and digital rights activist Farieha Aziz.

PTA in July had delivered a notification saying:

“Due to serious concerns expressed by security agencies, Mobilink, Ufone and Telenor are requested to give their BES customers 90 days notice for closing their connections by or before Nov 30, 2015.”

But PTA made it clear in a statement that other BlackBerry services such as messenger and BlackBerry Internet services (BIS) would carry on. There are almost 4,000 to 5,000 BES customers in Pakistan.

BlackBerry phones are of the past and most of their users have moved over to other smartphones, but still business initiatives and foreign missions still use BES, said officials in the cellular industry. BES subscribers access internet through a devoted server which is a private, inner network within a company and is like a mini-internet that detached from the rest of the world. Both BES and BIS permits BlackBerry users to receive email and recover web-pages.

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