Raja hopes BlackBerry row will be resolved soon

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is still negotiating with Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry smartphones, to address security concerns over the use of BlackBerry handsets even as the communications minister hopes that the issue would be resolved soon.

“We have not reached an agreement so far. Hopefully, some solution will come out soon. The Department of Telecommunications and RIM are still discussing the matter,” Communications and IT Minister A Raja said.

In a statement, RIM had said it was impossible for it or any other third party to read encrypted data sent via its enterprise offering and that the company could not accommodate any request for a copy of a customer’s encryption key.

Meanwhile, according to information from DoT, the company has agreed to provide the IP (internet protocol) address of the enterprise server — located in the customer’s premise — as well as the personal identification number (PIN) and the crucial 15-digit IMEI (international mobile equipment identity) number of each BlackBerry phone used by a subscriber to enable security agencies access the data in a readable format.