Dar es Salaam — Although the United Arab of Emirates (UAE) has banned the use of Blackberry mobile telephones, one of Tanzania mobile phone providers, Zantel, has said that the decision was only applicable in the UAE and doesn't affect Etisalat subsidiaries like Zantel.

Zantel Acting Chief Executive Officer Norman Morris told the East African Business Week in Dar es Salaam last week, "The blockade of Blackberry services in the UAE will absolutely not affect our firm in Tanzania. The decision to block the Blackberry in the UAE only applies to that country not Etisalat subsidiaries like Zantel."

When asked to comment on the action Tanzania was planning to take on this instrument, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) said it was a matter for the security departments to decide.

Recently the CEO for UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Mohammed al-Ghanem, said that UAE will soon ban e-mail, web browsing and messaging for the Blackberry smartphones due to the national security concerns.

"In the public interest, we have informed the providers of telecommunications services in the country (UAE) of our decision to suspend the Blackberry services of messenger, email and electronic browsing," stated the CEO, al-Ghanem.

"The decision is based on the fact that, in their current form, certain Blackberry services allow users to act without any legal accountability, security concerns," continued the Gulf States statement. According to al-Ghanem, the decision was final," but discussions continue with the Canadian-based Research in Motion (RIM), makers of the Blackberry device.

At the heart of the ban is the method in which RIM handles Blackberry data. Unlike most phones, the Blackberry data is encrypted and routed overseas through RIM's network center in Canada. This has been a major point of contention for several nations.