Research In Motion to open Dubai office by the end of the year

Research In Motion (RIM), the Canadian manufacturer of BlackBerry smartphones, plans to open an office in Dubai before the end of the year, a senior RIM representative told Comm.

Toronto-based Research In Motion plans to increase its presence in the GCC.

In an exclusive interview with Comm., RIM’s director of sales for Middle East, Khaled Kefel, said that it is only a matter of time before a satellite office is established to serve as a hub for the GCC.

“Now that the service is in the Middle East and there is a good adoption of it, we will certainly have a local presence here,” Kefel stated.

Currently the closest regional RIM office is in Turkey, however most activities for the Middle East are administered from the Toronto headquarters.

The BlackBerry is presently offered in the region through carrier partners such as Etisalat and Qtel, and through distributors such as Axiom Telecom.

There were more than 16 million BlackBerry subscriber accounts worldwide as of June 2008.