Blackberry services for Zim

Blackberry devices and services’ unique selling point, which has made them popular to business executive and corporates, is that they provide a secure form of communication, particularly through the corporate e-mail service, that is unreadable unless one possesses the encryption key.

Sources told this paper that a technical team from the Canadian firm is presently working with a team from Econet Wireless Zimbabwe on how the system can be deployed.
Reports say the project is expected to be completed by mid-year.
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe corporate communications manager Mr Ranga Mberi confirmed the development last week, but could not shed light on when and how the service is going to be deployed.

“Econet Wireless continues to explore products and services that add value to our customers and meet their varied needs. Blackberry is only but one among several such services that are under consideration as part of this continuous process. All product launches are, as policy, done in close consultation with regulatory authorities and with the suppliers of products and services,” said Mr Mberi in a terse response.
However, before the services can be rolled out to subscribers, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe must also engage the regulator, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) and Government in order to ensure that this unique product is in sync with the country’s laws, especially the Interception of Communications Act (ICA).

ICA makes it mandatory for a telecommunication service provider to install hardware and software facilities and devices to enable interception of communications.
Furthermore, the telecommunications service should store communication-related information and be connected with the communication-monitoring centre or alternatively be re-routed to the monitoring centre.
However, the telecommunication service provider will be assisted or compensated for the assistance to the authority or the monitoring centre.
A senior official from Potraz, who cannot be named for professional reasons, said the mobile company and its partners are due to make a presentation soon.
“We are well aware that Econet Wireless Zimbabwe wants to introduce the Blackberry service on its network, and we are expecting them soon for a presentation. I think the decisions that we will make will be guided by the information we will get,” said the official.

Blackberry and the iPhone have evolved as the top two brands in the world and experts believe that the former’s “super services” have endeared it to most mobile subscribers.
The service has proved to be popular in regional countries such as Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa and Botswana.
Econet, with a local subscriber base that is inching towards the five million mark, is considered as a suitable partner for RIM, which is attracted by bigger networks.
The Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) main selling point is its use of RIM’s proprietary push technology to Blackberry devices over cellular carriers.

In essence, BIS retrieves e-mail from mail servers by polling a POP3N (Post Office Protocol version 3) server.
POP3 is an internet standard protocol used to retrieve e-mail from a remote server to a local client.
RIM, which is based in Ontario, Canada, runs the exchange servers for its business-friendly Blackberry mobile device and all its exchange servers are in Canada.
If one sends an e-mail from a Blackberry, the email goes through as a heavily encrypted signal to exchange servers in Canada and is then sent encrypted to the recipient.

This encryption is difficult to break without the right encryption keys and hence the Blackberry smartphone has a reputation of being secure for communication. It is widely believed that RIM has struck deals with countries such as India, Russia and China, who are sensitive to issues over corporate or industrial espionage.

Countries in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are extremely sensitive over fears of terrorist threats securely communicated over the device. A telecommunications expert, Dr Dennis Magaya, noted that reservations about the Blackberry services have mainly been raised in the Middle East, which is mainly plagued by terrorist attacks, but maintained that the services have the potential of making a huge impact on the local market.

“Blackberry is renowned for providing super services, especially for businesses. Through this system, executives can access their business e-mails on their devices wherever there are.
“The services are mainly targeted for the top end of the market and hence the firm is attracted by big telecommunication companies. I believe that the mobile operator offering the services will have to pay a minimum fee, similar to a management fee, for the services,” explained Dr Magaya. The Zimbabwe telecommunications sector has experienced phenomenal growth since the formation of the inclusive Government in February 2009 and the introduction of the multi-currency system that has stabilised the economy. Statistics from Potraz indicate that the mobile penetration rate is now more than 60 percent, while Internet penetration is estimated at 12 percent. – The Sunday Mail