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The government has decided to shut down the services of the top-of-the-range smart phone brand Blackberry in Bangladesh after the company’s failure to comply with telecoms regulation concerning national security.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has already informed the decision to Grameenphone and Airtel, the two mobile operators, who are providing Blackberry services in Bangladesh. BTRC, in a letter this month, asked the two operators to take necessary measures to provide alternative solutions to its existing Blackberry subscribers.
“You are requested to submit detailed work plan to enable the subscribers of Blackberry to migrate to secured alternative solutions by seven days,” reads the BTRC letter.
The decision came after Blackberry failed to take measures in providing the government with access to lawful interception of Blackberry network.
As per licencing terms and conditions, the government reserves the right to access telecoms service providers’ networks ‘as and when it deems necessary’ but such lawful interception is impossible in Blackberry handsets, which are highly encrypted to protect privacy.
Originally designed to attract high-end clients by guaranteeing unique security measures, Blackberry handsets, manufactured by Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM), got popularity among elites and policymakers that includes the US president Barack Obama.
Blackberry launched its services in Bangladesh in 2008 and till 2013, it had around 6,000 subscribers including high officials in the prime minister’s office, CEOs of leading local and foreign business conglomerates and top diplomats, industry insiders said.
Commenting on the BTRC decision to close down the services, chief corporate officer of Grameenphone Mahmud Hasan said they were informed of the regulator’s letter.
However, he said Grameenphone has sought two weeks so that it can arrange alternative solutions to its subscribers.
A senior official of BTRC said they were against the closure of any services but in this case they have nothing to do as RIM has failed to comply with regulations.
The problem could have been solved had the RIM set up a server in the country, enabling the government to access the network, he explained. Without a local server, it is not possible to have access to highly encrypted data of Blackberry. Regarding RIM’s failure to comply with the regulations, top officials of both Grameenphone and Airtel said they had requested RIM several times to take necessary measures including setting up of a server, but the RIM headquarters did not respond positively. One reason of the company’s reluctance in setting up a server is that it will not be financially viable in such a small market like Bangladesh, a Grameenphone official said.
Ashraf Chowdhury, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Airtel, said the closure of the service has become inevitable following Blackberry’s failure to come up with a solution. Blackberry faced similar problems in countries such as India, Saudi Arabia and China. In 2010, the government of Saudi Arabia served a notice to the company, saying that if it would fail to provide the government with access to its network, the service would be closed from August 6, 2010, prompting the company to set up a server there.
source: Govt shutting down Blackberry services
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has already informed the decision to Grameenphone and Airtel, the two mobile operators, who are providing Blackberry services in Bangladesh. BTRC, in a letter this month, asked the two operators to take necessary measures to provide alternative solutions to its existing Blackberry subscribers.
“You are requested to submit detailed work plan to enable the subscribers of Blackberry to migrate to secured alternative solutions by seven days,” reads the BTRC letter.
The decision came after Blackberry failed to take measures in providing the government with access to lawful interception of Blackberry network.
As per licencing terms and conditions, the government reserves the right to access telecoms service providers’ networks ‘as and when it deems necessary’ but such lawful interception is impossible in Blackberry handsets, which are highly encrypted to protect privacy.
Originally designed to attract high-end clients by guaranteeing unique security measures, Blackberry handsets, manufactured by Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM), got popularity among elites and policymakers that includes the US president Barack Obama.
Blackberry launched its services in Bangladesh in 2008 and till 2013, it had around 6,000 subscribers including high officials in the prime minister’s office, CEOs of leading local and foreign business conglomerates and top diplomats, industry insiders said.
Commenting on the BTRC decision to close down the services, chief corporate officer of Grameenphone Mahmud Hasan said they were informed of the regulator’s letter.
However, he said Grameenphone has sought two weeks so that it can arrange alternative solutions to its subscribers.
A senior official of BTRC said they were against the closure of any services but in this case they have nothing to do as RIM has failed to comply with regulations.
The problem could have been solved had the RIM set up a server in the country, enabling the government to access the network, he explained. Without a local server, it is not possible to have access to highly encrypted data of Blackberry. Regarding RIM’s failure to comply with the regulations, top officials of both Grameenphone and Airtel said they had requested RIM several times to take necessary measures including setting up of a server, but the RIM headquarters did not respond positively. One reason of the company’s reluctance in setting up a server is that it will not be financially viable in such a small market like Bangladesh, a Grameenphone official said.
Ashraf Chowdhury, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Airtel, said the closure of the service has become inevitable following Blackberry’s failure to come up with a solution. Blackberry faced similar problems in countries such as India, Saudi Arabia and China. In 2010, the government of Saudi Arabia served a notice to the company, saying that if it would fail to provide the government with access to its network, the service would be closed from August 6, 2010, prompting the company to set up a server there.
source: Govt shutting down Blackberry services
