Indian Official: No Security Threat From BlackBerry - Report

NEW DELHI (AFP)--BlackBerry mobile devices don't pose a security threat and no permission is needed from the Indian government to make the service available, an official said Wednesday, according to media reports.

Indian security agencies have previously expressed worries that militants may use the popular devices to communicate and that intercepting and tracing emails from them was difficult.

"People are buying BlackBerry. There is no threat from BlackBerry services," telecommunications secretary Siddhartha Behura told an industry meeting, according to the Press Trust of India.

The official said no permission was needed to provide BlackBerry services.

"They do not have to seek our permission to start any service," Behura told the summit.

The Indian government has previously held talks with Research in Motion, the Canadian maker of the device, over security concerns.

Industry estimates say there are 400,000 BlackBerry users in India's mobile market, the fastest-growing in the world.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 2nd July 2008