India asks operators to upgrade network to monitor BlackBerry

3 http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/18501.html "> Sources said in Monday that the government had asked mobile operators to upgrade their networks to help the National Security Service Monitor communications through the BlackBerry. India's government has threatened to ban BlackBerry's encrypted e-mails and instant messaging services unless rim supplies the data to the Indian government. The Government is concerned that surveillance emails and instant messages could threaten national security.

In addition to India, many other countries have expressed unease about BlackBerry services. India's Interior Ministry said August 30 that Rim has provided several ways to help the authorities monitor BlackBerry phone communications. The Indian government said at the time that it would examine the feasibility of these modalities within the next 60 days.

"Mobile operators will have to upgrade to help the government monitor BlackBerry services smoothly," a source from the top Indian government said in Monday. RIM's Indian spokeswoman declined to comment. Another source said the mobile operator was required to submit a report on the escalation of the network by September 22.

A mobile operator in India confirmed that the company received a request from the government for a network upgrade. These sources have not disclosed what additional technology operators will need to monitor secure communications.

The Indian government has previously announced that it has started monitoring BlackBerry phone communications in India, but Rim has not confirmed it. The Indian government's monitoring of BlackBerry communications could affect India's mobile-phone market, and Apple and Nokia could be the beneficiaries of the move.

Monitoring the communications of non-BlackBerry handsets is simple and requires only the operator's consent. RIM has said operators are unable to access encrypted data on BlackBerry handsets.