http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4043&Itemid=226
BlackBerry's Indonesian Problems
Written by Our Correspondent
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Titaful says no more BlackBerrys
Government threatens a shutdown
Research in Motion, the Canada-based manufacturer of the popular
BlackBerry communications device, faces growing trouble that appear to be
coming to a head from government regulators in Indonesia, its second-biggest
global market.
The Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body is threatening to cut
off RIM’s internet access after the company said it would establish its data
center in Singapore rather than Indonesia.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has the final
say. Titaful Sembiring, the head of the communications ministry, said Tuesday
that the government would issue a regulation requiring all telecoms companies
operating in the country to house their servers domestically, a shot
particularly aimed at BlackBerry. The regulation is likely to be completed in
January, he said.
RIM has faced problems in other countries in Asia as well over question
about the confidentiality of messages. It has been in complex negotiations for
months with the government of India over access to messages and has faced
threats in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and other countries although there has been
no concrete action. Even the United Kingdom has threatened action after mobs
were thought to be communicating by smartphones in riots earlier this year.
India in particular has threatened BlackBerry’s operations because of
what the government regards as the threat of terrorists being able to use the
devices to transmit confidential messages between them. BlackBerry smartphones
were found in the rucksacks of the terrorists who shot up Mumbai in November of
2008, killing 166 and wounding more than 200.
RIM has repeatedly argued that only the customers have the keys to unlock
their devices.
RIM faces more problems as well, from a commercial standpoint. Apple’s
iPhone and other manufacturers’ smartphones have been cutting badly into
BlackBerry sales worldwide, particularly in the developed countries. RIM has
turned for growth in developing markets, with Indonesia one of the few bright
spots for the company. BlackBerry has been so popular, in fact, that a massive
crowd assaulted the retail offices of the company in Jakarta’s Pacific Place
mall in November when the BlackBerry Bellagio smartphone went on sale at deeply
discounted prices. About 90 people fainted in the crush and several others were
hospitalized with broken bones after it was reported that the store had run out
of the discounted devices. Police were threatening to arrest the manager for
causing the chaos.
The move by Titaful would give the government the legal grounds to end
BlackBerry’s services in the country if RIM doesn’t comply. The
telecommunications regulatory agency said it is crucial that the company move
its operations to Indonesia for security reasons, and that RIM had reneged on
its commitment to cooperate.
RIM has argued that it has complied with all of the government’s
requirements, including an obligation to establish customer care and service
centers, to allow lawful intercepts of pornographic content and to build a
“regional data center.” The government, it said, had only stipulated a regional
facility, not a domestic one.
Indonesia’s international and domestic business community has reacted
with dismay to the confrontation, with Didie Suwondho, the deputy chairman of
the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry quoted in the Jakarta Post as
saying the threat to ban RIM from marketing their products in Indonesia could
prove damaging to the investment climate at a time when foreign investors are
looking at Indonesia with fresh eyes in the wake of the global economic
problems in the United States and the Eurozone.
Indonesia Consumers’ Protection Foundation chairman Sudaryatmo also told
the Post that government was being reckless by threatening RIM and had failed
to take into consideration the damage to the business community if the services
were stopped.
If issued, the regulation, which Titaful said was in the process of being
drafted, would give the government legal grounds to terminate BlackBerry
services in the country should RIM refuse to comply. He described the
regulation as a “warning” that took into consideration the fact that a data
center takes time to build.
And, although it appears targeted at RIM, observers said other
telecommunications networks in the country could face similar problems from the
regulation. Among those that could be vulnerable are such industry stalwarts as
Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, which also offer instant messaging protocols.
Titaful told reporters his ministry has already notified the
international telecommunications networks operating in Indonesia to be ready.
“When the regulation is ready, we’re going to summon them,” he said.
RIM said last week that it “has not been advised of any specific
requirements extending beyond what it has already satisfied,” which included
“working with law enforcement agencies in Indonesia for the provision of lawful
access as stipulated by national law.”
RIM added in a prepared statement that it had addressed all of
Indonesia’s requests and in fact is investigating the possibility of additional
new multimillion dollar investments in Indonesia and that it remains committed
to the country.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
