(Image: sgm / Shutterstock.com)

Zimbabwe’s government could finally bow to pressure and unban BlackBerry Messenger services in the country.

The Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) last year said it had not licensed any operator to offer the service.

Industry players said at the time that Econet was closer to testing the service, but abandoned it following the statement by POTRAZ.

However, Sam Kundishora, a senior official in Zimbabwe’s Information and Communication Technology Ministry has hinted that the government is considering allowing Blackberry Messenger services in the country.

But he said that there are “issues” – which he did not name – that the government wanted to address before the service could be allowed.

“There are certain issues which we have to look into. I do not want to speak on behalf of other ministries, but work is currently ongoing,” Kundishora said.

The BBM service allows users to send messages without the risk of interception, as the messages are first encrypted before they are sent, making it difficult for interception by third parties.

Nelson Chamisa, Zimbabwe’s ICT minister, said last month that discussions were taking place to ensure that the ban on BlackBerry services in Zimbabwe is lifted.

Analysts say the government has not allowed the use of Blackberry Messenger services in Zimbabwe amid fears that services such as instant messaging could help to mobilise people to effect regime change.

This follows massive uprisings in the north African region of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya where people heavily relied upon BlackBerry Messenger to help mobilise groups of people.