Pressure on BlackBerry to provide access to mail service

With the security agencies already putting to test BlackBerry's messenger service, its maker Research In Motion (RIM) has been asked by India to provide technical solution to intercept its enterprise mailing service which provides a private virtual networking among group of people and cannot be breached.

The BlackBerry has provided with a technological facility of intercepting its Messenger service between two handsets after providing the Personal Index Number (PIN), official sources said.

The security agencies were ascertaining the intercepting provisions provided by the Candian smart phone manufacturer for intercepting BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) for which a detailed report would be submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs later.

The sources said that while some delay had been noticed in the getting the intercepts, the BlackBerry manufacturers had assured them of getting a real time intercepts with very less human interface once the cloud computing environment was put in place.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) and the security agencies are now looking forward for a technical solution to be provided by the smart phone maker for intercepting the BlackBerry Enterprise Service under which a private virtual network is created within the server between a group of individuals who can exchange emails without getting intercepted, they said.

The DoT, in consultation with the Home Ministry officials, are now pressing for providing the access to BlackBerry Enterprise service (BES).

The DoT had asked other service providers including Google, Skype and Virtual Private Network (VPN) also to work a solution of intercepting their services within the stipulated 60 days as provided to the BlackBerry makers.

These service providers have been issued notices earlier and all of them were asked to comply with the directive or else they will have to close down their networks in India, the sources said.

"There will be no discrimination. All networks operating in India will have to give access to their services to law enforcement agencies," a senior Home Ministry official said.

Nokia, which wanted to introduce push-mail service in India, has already agreed to set up a server in India.