RIM Denies Indian BlackBerry Jan 31 Deadline

RIM has denied any looming deadline from the Indian government to cede access to secure BlackBerry messaging services, stating that reports a monitoring system must be in place by January 31 2011 lest BlackBerry users face their service being frozen are false. According to a statement quoted by the WSJ, RIM claims its "dealings with the government of India remain positive" and that "any suggestion that it is facing a Jan. 31 deadline in India is incorrect and contradicts prior clarifying comments from the government itself."

Reports late last week had suggested that RIM was in negotiations for a further 18-24 months in which to develop a system to the Indian government's liking, along with assurances that the messaging service would not be blocked in the meantime. However, RIM maintains that such a system is technologically infeasible, and that no deadline has been set.