India, which has threatened to block some BlackBerry services over security worries, has formally asked mobile operators to ensure a monitoring system for the smartphone's services by August 31. At least three mobile operators confirmed they had received letters from the Department of Telecommunications giving them a deadline to put in place monitoring capability for BlackBerry Messenger and secured Enterprise email services.
"We have received a letter ... asking us to ensure that legal intervention capability is put in place for BlackBerry services by 31 August 2010," a statement from Tata Teleservices, one of the operators given the deadline, said.. India is the latest country to step up pressure on RIM, which has built the BlackBerry's reputation around confidentiality.
Business professionals and politicians prefer the device. Governments, including Saudi Arabia, fear it could become a tool for militants to plan attacks or those breaking Islamic laws. New Delhi says it will shut Blackberry services if RIM does not allow access to its messaging or secured email services, threatening its future in the world's fastest-growing telecoms market. A shutdown would affect about one million users in India out of a total 41 million BlackBerry users world-wide, allowing them to use the devices only for calls and Internet browsing.