DoT asks Tata's not to offer Blackberry services

New Delhi, Apr 23 (UNI) The government today directed Tata Teleservices not to roll out Blackberry services in the country until ''required monitoring system to the satisfaction of the security agencies are in place.'' The Department of Telecom (DoT) in a letter to Tata said, ''Keeping in view of the security implication involved, the licensee (company) is directed not to connect or provide or run the Blackberry e-mail and mobile messenger services unless the required monitoring system to the satisfaction of the security agencies are in place and the master key and algorithm are deposited with the licensor.'' India's security agencies have been calling for a solution that will enable them to monitor BlackBerry data, which at the moment cannot be intercepted by security agencies since the data sent between BlackBerry owners in India bypasses the networks of Indian mobile operators.

Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance have been offering these services to their customers in the Indian market and Tata's had seeked DoTs permission to roll out similar services.

''Non-compliance of instructions by any other operator in breach of terms and conditions of the licence cannot be a valid ground for according permission to offer Blackberry services,'' the DoT letter added.

UNI PBB BJR DB1811