RIM faces obstacles in building BlackBerry service in India

Research in Motion and the Indian Ministry of Telecommunications have yet to reach a decision upon the security concerns raised by the BlackBerry's system of communication.

Indian security officials are reportedly wary of the lack of traceability of BlackBerry-delivered messages. The government's need for an unencrypted BlackBerry message scheme was reported by many to have been delivered as a threat to shut down the network if a solution wasn't reached. These rumors were promptly dispelled by India Telecoms Secretary Siddhartha Behura, who said a ban was out of the question.

However, there was a serious air to the communique between India's Ministry of Telecommunications and RIM, saying that by the first week of April, the Canadian company needed to devise a way for legal interception of BlackBerry messages to take place. RIM still has not come up with an answer.

"I am hopeful of seeing a solution even before 9th, I mean some time early next week," said T.V. Ramachandran, director general of Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI).

The date was pushed today to April 21 when RIM must provide a solution.