Governments there have raised concerns over the ability of security forces to intercept email sent via BlackBerrys, which they say could pose a potential security risk if they are unable to access correspondence from suspected terrorist organisations.

Earlier this month the United Arab Emirates government announced that BlackBerry’s internet-enabled services will be banned in the country from 11 October. Although Research In Motion (RIM), the Canadian company which makes BlackBerry smartphones, has said that it will not agree deals with specific countries, it has agreed to hand over user codes which will let Saudi Arabian authorities monitor BlackBerry Messenger activity in a bid to stop the Kingdom from imposing a BlackBerry ban. In India, the government has given RIM until the end of August to address security issues.

Maria Brown, associate director for the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) at Reed Specialist Recruitment, told Recruiter that the Middle East has a high number of BlackBerry users and any ban will hit professionals’ ability to do business on the move. “It will cause a lot of upheaval. You can walk into any hotel and see a few dozen business professionals working on their BlackBerrys. If those options are not available, it is going to affect all areas of business and their ability to do business on the go.”

Jaspreet Khurana, HR director at Premier Inn in India, part of the Whitbread group, told Recruiter that any ban there would primarily affect the hotel chain’s internal communications as the firm encourages staff use of BlackBerry’s Messenger service. And with the hotel chain’s impending opening in Delhi, which will require around 50 staff initially, Khurana said it will be imperative that UK operations can be contacted on the move via email as some Whitbread professionals will relocate from the UK to India to fill certain roles.

“We need constant access to emails, especially in organisations like ours where there is a time difference. I leave work after 6pm but our UK colleagues are still at work. Until 10pm and 11pm at night, my phone is buzzing with emails,” Khurana said.

Annil Chandel, country director of IT recruiter Huxley Associates’ Indian operation, told Recruiter that he thought that RIM and the Indian government would reach agreement. Usage of BlackBerrys is currently most common among management. However, its use is growing among lower level workers, he said.

Ben Hutton, consultant at IT recruiter Vertex Solutions, which has an office in Mumbai, told Recruiter that a ban in India would mean that candidates, employers and recruiters will turn to alternative handsets such as landlines and phones that use Google’s Android operating systems which uses an open source platform. “There are other ways around the ban,” Hutton said.