BlackBerry services won't be available in UAE from March 10: Etisalat

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Dubai - Customers can still use their data allowance from their BlackBerry packages for all other internet services.

By Muzaffar Rizvi

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Published: Wed 19 Feb 2020, 12:49 PM

Last updated: Wed 19 Feb 2020, 11:14 PM

dubai - Blackberry services will no more available across the UAE from March 10, Khaleej Times has learnt.
Referring to BlackBerry Ltd notice, etisalat on Wednesday announced that BlackBerry services such as BlackBerry Messenger - Pin to Pin - BlackBerry Internet service and BlackBerry email service will not be available from March 10, 2020.
"Customers can still use their data allowance from their Blackberry packages for all other Internet services," etisalat said in a statement to Khaleej Times.
The iconic smartphone brand, with the built-in keyboard, was one of the established players in the global telecom market. BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM, was the forerunner to services like WhatsApp, iMessage, and Telegram. BlackBerry users and tech experts surprised with the latest news as the Canadian brand turned its focus to more lucrative business of software after it stopped making its own smartphones in 2016.
Abhinav Purohit, principal consultant specialising in Middle East Telecom and ICT industries, said BlackBerry services have been dwindling down. "On May 31 2019, the once famous BlackBerry Messenger service was shut down for consumer users, but the enterprise version was still working. So the current move is aimed at the last few remaining enterprises users who may still be using BlackBerry services," he said.
The latest BlackBerry announcement came following the company's another announcement that it would not be selling any new phones by August 2020. Chinese firm TCL Communications, which manufacturing the BlackBerry phones, recently announced that it would be shutting things down operations by August.
"So the announcement is in line with the company scaling back its operations and slowing winding down to being an enterprise software only company," Purohit said.
- muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com



muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com


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