Shares of Research In Motion on Monday rose somewhat as officials in India said they’ll postpone a BlackBerry shutdown for 60 days.
RIM stock saw a steady ascent trading on the news, climbing more than 2 percent by almost 1 p.m. to reach $46.94.
RIM recently agreed to give the Indian government more access to its encrypted e-mail and messaging services, and to form an industry wireless security group, but it still faced an Aug. 31 shutdown. On Aug. 30, authorities in the world’s second-most populous country said they’ll start using RIM-provided tools right away and evaluate in another two months whether that’s sufficient.
Indian security agencies say they need to be able to probe encrypted communications because of terrorist threats. Two years ago, terrorists bombed a hotel in Mumbai; government officials fear terrorists increasingly are using encrypted mobile and online methods to plan attacks.
About 1 million, mostly corporate, users have BlackBerry service in India.
RIM earlier this month avoided a similar shutdown in Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia and Lebanon are indicating they, too, want to follow India’s lead.
