BlackBerry Storm Hits Hurdle in India

BlackBerry Storm Hits Hurdle in India

Techtree News Staff, Dec 04, 2008 1720 hrs IST

Government rakes up security concerns

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If the 'security-compliance' related loops aren't quickly sorted out between Research In Motion (RIM) and the Department of Telecom (DoT), the BlackBerry Storm 9500 might not storm the Indian market this month after all. The main impediment seems to be security concerns related to the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

According to The Hindu Business Line:
"The Wireless Planning and Coordination wing of DoT, which gives approvals for all radio equipment and devices imported into the country, has said that since the device uses encrypted data for e-mail transmission through a server outside the country, it should be examined by security officials before RIM is allowed to launch the product.

Though the WPC said that it does not have any reservation in granting approval to the device as such, it has sought the opinion of the Deputy Director General (Security) in this regard."

Earlier this year as well, DoT had BlackBerry under its scanner because the company's servers were located outside India; the Indian security agencies had issues keeping tabs on the information being exchanged over BlackBerry handsets within the country. The concerned national security agencies need to monitor BlackBerry traffic as it is crucial for the country's safety and security.

The raging debate over Blackberry services since March this year is because communication is routed through a server located outside the country, which is against Indian law. As per new telecom guidelines unveiled last year, the control of remote access, which includes activation, transfer of data, and termination, has to be within the country and not at a remote location abroad.

The new guidelines require RIM and Blackberry service providers to have a hosting agreement necessitating the exchange of data and communication to be saved on the servers of Indian service providers, as against the existing routing agreement that allows it to be saved on servers outside the country.

With the current handling of the situation, resolution remains unclear. However, RIM is trying to speed up Storm's clearance process, presumably to not leave iPhone without a competitor for too long in India.

Related Links:
Problems Plague BlackBerry Storm
Blackberry Storm Gets First Software Update
The Blackberry Puzzle may Soon be Solved
Government Bans Certain BlackBerry Services
Blackberry's 'n' Sour Grapes



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