Despite initial reports in November that BlackBerry would cease operations in Pakistan, the telecommunication and wireless equipment company has reversed its initial decision.
The incitement for the withdrawal occurred in July, and came from a request made by the Pakistani government for "unfettered access" to all of BlackBerry's customer data for the sake of counterterrorist interest and preventative surveillance. The manufacturer responded with the demand for emails, texts and other direct messages with an announcement to fold all business endeavors and servers — and therefore, wireless access for BlackBerry customers — within the country's borders.
Now, the Pakistani government has dropped its surveillance and server-access demands, even after the country's Telecommunication Authority (an agency congruent with the FCC's Wireless Communication Bureau) extended its deadline to comply to Dec. 30 of this year.
"After productive discussions, the government of Pakistan has rescinded its shutdown order, and BlackBerry has decided to remain in the Pakistan market," BlackBerry COO Marty Beard wrote in an offical statement posted to the company's blog.
"We are grateful to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and the Pakistani government for accepting BlackBerry's position that we cannot provide the content of our customers' BES traffic, nor will we provide access to our BES servers," he added.
As of now, there is no word on what made the TA reverse its decision.
Via: BBC
