Saudi Arabia's telecoms firm STC has launched the advanced interactive TV service for its AFAQ DSL Shamil customers. The new service, InVision, allows customers to watch live TV channels, pause a program and replay it later, replay clips, and record and retrieve programs to watch them anytime for a complete week. It also provides Video on Demand (VOD) and a control panel which allows viewers to select the packages that meet their interests. It marks the first time that interactive TV has been available in the Kingdom. STC's Blackberry subscribers will no longer be able to access messenger services, it has been announced. Following moves by the UAE, which will ban the messenger, email and web-browsing capabilities of the device from Oct. 11, Saudi Arabia will ban just messenger services from Aug. 1. “I hope this is only a kind of pressure on RIM to take steps to provide information when needed,” Abdulrahman Mazi, a member of the board of STC said. Earlier, the Saudi Telecom Company announced the release of a new 3G Sim card under the name “SAWA 25”. The new Sim card's price is SR25 with SR25 free credit at initiation. The new Sim is prepaid six and valid for six months and is done in response to the needs of customers who want to get temporary prepaid Sim without monthly commitments.
