 "BSNL, MTNL get time till September 30 for BlackBerry interception")
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd, which have missed three deadlines to ensure real-time interception of BlackBerry services, have been given time till September 30 for a solution.
BlackBerry services were termed a threat at one point of time by security agencies, as they were unable to decode the communication, made through devices and systems. BlackBerry finally placed a server in Mumbai for interception of its consumer services. All private operators, except Sistema Shyam, have implemented a solution for interception. The chiefs of the two telecom public-sector units (PSUs) were called by the department of telecommunications (DoT) recently. During the meeting, the top company officials said they were in talks with Israeli firm Verint for finding a solution to this long-standing issue, sources said.
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“They sought some more time for implementing and we have given them till September 30,” a senior DoT official said. A top official of one of PSUs said: “Verint is asking an exorbitant price for the software. From BSNL, they are demanding up to Rs 2 crore and MTNL Rs 3 crore for a service area. We get much less business from BlackBerry connections compared to the price demanded by Verint. Both of us may give up services if it is not commercially viable.”
No comments were received from Verint on the matter.
BSNL operates in 20 out of 22 service areas in the country, barring Delhi and Mumbai where MTNL operates. BSNL has around 30,000 Blackberry customers across the 20 circles and MTNL has 7,000 customers, which include “ministers, members of Parliament and senior government officials”. The previous deadlines set by the government for the telecom PSUs were December 31, 2012, February 28, 2013 and April 30, 2013. Sistema Shyam Teleservices ended BlackBerry services on its network as it had only a few thousand customers and installing the interception solution wasn’t commercially viable for the company.
BlackBerry services were termed a threat at one point of time by security agencies, as they were unable to decode the communication, made through devices and systems. BlackBerry finally placed a server in Mumbai for interception of its consumer services. All private operators, except Sistema Shyam, have implemented a solution for interception. The chiefs of the two telecom public-sector units (PSUs) were called by the department of telecommunications (DoT) recently. During the meeting, the top company officials said they were in talks with Israeli firm Verint for finding a solution to this long-standing issue, sources said.
ALSO READ: BSNL to prepare alternative defence telecom network by 2015
“They sought some more time for implementing and we have given them till September 30,” a senior DoT official said. A top official of one of PSUs said: “Verint is asking an exorbitant price for the software. From BSNL, they are demanding up to Rs 2 crore and MTNL Rs 3 crore for a service area. We get much less business from BlackBerry connections compared to the price demanded by Verint. Both of us may give up services if it is not commercially viable.”
No comments were received from Verint on the matter.
BSNL operates in 20 out of 22 service areas in the country, barring Delhi and Mumbai where MTNL operates. BSNL has around 30,000 Blackberry customers across the 20 circles and MTNL has 7,000 customers, which include “ministers, members of Parliament and senior government officials”. The previous deadlines set by the government for the telecom PSUs were December 31, 2012, February 28, 2013 and April 30, 2013. Sistema Shyam Teleservices ended BlackBerry services on its network as it had only a few thousand customers and installing the interception solution wasn’t commercially viable for the company.
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