The government has set a July 16 deadline for Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM), the BlackBerry smartphones producer, to comply with a regulation requiring the company to set up local after-sales service outlets.
Failing to comply would result in the Information and Communications Ministry rejecting all applications for the new certification of BlackBerry imports, as well as freezing already-issued certificates, which mean existing certificate holders can no longer import BlackBerry products, according to a Ministry statement Sunday.
However, existing BlackBerry users will not be affected by the decision as they would still be able to use it as usual, as long as it is "certified and not a black market product", Ministry spokesman Gatot S. Dewabroto said in the statement.
"We arrived at this decision after we found little progress in the last three meetings between the government, including several representatives from the directorate general of post and telecommunications and RIM."
He was referring to meetings between representatives of the Ministry and RIM as well as the Canadian government, via its embassy here, which has been trying to resolve blocked certification procedures concerning the leading Canadian export item to Indonesia.
This trade barrier has been in place since last month because the RIM has yet to provide after-sales service in the country as required by the regulations, which is - according to the Ministry - aimed at protecting consumers and giving equal treatment to all producers.
In earlier meetings RIM said it was only willing to conduct a feasibility study on opening an office since market penetration was still at an early stage with more than 300,000 mobile phones distributed directly or indirectly through local telecommunications operators.
RIM was also concerned about the distribution of BlackBerrys via the black market, which it presumed supplied 80 percent of demand.
The government insisted the after-sales service was important given the fast growth of the product sales, which it expects to reach one million by the end of this year.
Gatot said the government had sent a letter to the directorate general of trade and the directorate general of customs and exercise informing them of this stance.
The letter, which was signed by the Ministry's director general of post and telecommunications, Basuki Yusuf Iskandar, was also sent to vendors, importers and telecommunications operators.
Gatot acknowledged the decision might be unpopular but insisted it was for the good for both customers and the telecommunications industry as a whole.
"The decision is not influenced by its competitors. We are trying to be transparent and objective. We could have stopped the certification process last month, but we did not do that as we wanted RIM to implement its commitment." (naf)
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