By IANS
New Delhi : BlackBerry services in India have come under the scanner with its licensor Research in Motion (RIM) being called for a meeting with two key ministers to address security concerns the service has raised.
The home ministry has recently expressed concern over the fact that e-mails being received through the BlackBerry service cannot be intercepted. The government has also expressed serious concerns over terrorist outfits using Internet for communication.
It is to address these concerns that officials of the home and telecommunications ministries will be meeting with RIM executives.
Last week, the government did not permit Tata Teleservices to launch a BlackBerry service due to the security issues involved.
Currently, four cellular operators – Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communications and BPL Mobile – provide BlackBerry services in India.
These operators have now been asked by the government to allow it to intercept e-mails or face cancellation of their BlackBerry licenses by March 31.
“The government has been questioning this service for quite a while now,” said an official of a leading telecom firm.
“Anyhow, our duty is to prove our case to the government…Termination of BlackBerry services is going to affect a huge group of subscribers, hence, I am sure this will be sorted out,” the official added.
According to an official communiqué from the US-based licensor: “RIM operates in more than 130 countries around the world and respects the regulatory requirements of governments. RIM does not comment on confidential regulatory matters or speculation on such matters in any given country.”
RIM, however, did not make it clear whether it would heed the government’s order of giving it access to its encryption algorithms and to messages on its service.
“We cannot comment on anything of that sort at this time,” said RIM India’s spokesperson Satchit Gayakwad.
Ironically, a parliamentary panel has suggested giving “BlackBerry-type mobile phones” to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers for better accessibility.