Two mobile phone operators have asked the country’s telecom regulator to give them another year to shift their Blackberry subscribers to another platform.
Grameenphone and Airtel – the two operators currently offering the Blackberry services – applied for time extensions through letters sent to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) recently.
Earlier, the BTRC decided to shutdown the services in Bangladesh after the companies failed to comply with the telecom watchdog’s directives concerning national security. The BTRC, in a letter last December, asked the two mobile operators to take necessary measures to provide alternative solutions to its existing Blackberry subscribers.
The decision came after Blackberry failed to take measures in providing the government with access to lawful interception of Blackberry network.
As per licensing terms and conditions, the government reserves the right to access telecoms service providers’ networks “as and when it deems necessary,” but such lawful interception was impossible in Blackberry handsets, which are highly encrypted to protect privacy.
Meanwhile, sources said the high commissioner of Canada – the country where Blackberry manufacturers Research In Motion (RIM) are located – also discussed the issue with BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose on Wednesday; but no decision was made at the meeting.
Canada’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Heather Cruden requested BTRC authorities to be soft while making a decision on the Blackberry issue, the sources added.
Giashuddin Ahmed, vice chairman of the BTRC, admitted that the meeting had taken place, but said no decision was reached.
He also acknowledged that the two letters from Grameenphone and Airtel were under consideration.
If the BTRC did not accept Grameenphone and Airtel’s requests, the operators might need to swap all BlackBerry handsets purchased from them to other devices, which will be a hassle for the users, an official from Grameenphone said.
The regulator and the two operators met several times to hold talks on the issue, but were unable to reach a common ground.
Blackberry launched its services in Bangladesh in 2008 and until 2013, it had around 6,166 subscribers including high officials in the Prime Minister’s Office, CEOs of leading local and foreign business conglomerates and top diplomats, industry insiders said.
A senior official of the BTRC said the regulators were against the closure of any services but in this case they had nothing to do as the RIM had 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, the official explained. Without a local server, it was not possible to have access to the highly encrypted data of Blackberry.
Top officials of both Grameenphone and Airtel said the RIM headquarters failed to take necessary measures despite repeated requests from the companies.
One reason for the RIM’s reluctance in setting up a server was that it would not be financially viable in such a small market like Bangladesh, a Grameenphone official said.
Grameenphone has 4,664 Blackberry users, while Airtel has 1,500 active Blackberry subscribers.
Blackberry reportedly faced similar problems in different countries including India, Saudi Arabia and China. In 2010, the company was prompted to set up a server in Saudi Arabia after the country’s government said Blackberry services would be closed unless it provided the government with access to its network.