Nokia move may force BlackBerry hand too

Finnish mobile handset firm Nokia on Monday said it will set up its enterprise server in India in November this year to adhere to the government's security concerns, a move that may force BlackBerry to also follow it.

"We are launching the server on November 5 in compliance with all the rules and regulation in the country...It is for hosting mail and ensuring that the government has access (to the data)," Nokia India Managing Director D Shivakumar told reporters here.

The Indian government has been demanding greater access to mobile and online communications on the back of national security concerns.

Its competitor, Research In Motion who are the makers of BlackBerry, are facing a closure of services after tomorrow as they do not have a server hosted in India.

"We met Home Secretary GK Pillai about a month ago and explained as to what Nokia is doing. He was fully satisfied," Shivakumar said.

Nokia had launched a beta version of the messaging service in April 2009 and consumers can use up to 10 email accounts on the move with the service.