Nokia says govt security concerns met

Mobile handset maker Nokia on Monday said it had set up servers in India for enabling security agencies to monitor its consumer e-mail services. The company is in the process of testing solutions for these services.

"We have completed our commitment," said Nokia India managing director and vice president D Shivakumar. The testing is likely to be completed in the next three months. Nokia is in talks with the government to let the country's security agencies monitor consumer e-mail services, and not corporate e-mail services, he added.

“What the government is asking for in terms of interception is absolutely right,” Shivakumar added.

The Indian government has expressed concern over highly encrypted corporate mails which the security agencies were unable to intercept. It has also pressed the makers of BlackBerry Research in Motion (RIM) to provide a solution for its enterprise e-mail services. RIM has done so for monitoring of its messenger services but not for corporate e-mail, saying it does not possess any key.

Nokia also announced the launch of its E7 business smartphone on Monday at a price of about Rs 29,999.

This has Microsoft application, an 8-megapixal camera, extendable memory up to 16 GB and 10,000 pieces of content localised for the phone, which includes three business channels that consumers can download free of cost from Nokia's Ovi Store.

Nokia has tied up with private service provider Vodafone to offer 2GB data per month free for six months. The offer is applicable in 3G and 2G (for both prepaid and postpaid consumers).