Jim Balsillie

The Indonesian government has requested Canada-based telecommunication giant Research In Motion Ltd (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry smartphones, to provide access into the company’s network and database in order for the local law enforcement agencies to intercept and scrutinize communications of suspected criminals and terrorists. Amid the mounting pressure, RIM’s co-chief executive officer Jim Balsillie talked recently to The Jakarta Post’s Rendi A. Witular over the government’s request, and the company’s flourishing business in Indonesia. Here are the excerpts:

Question: The government has requested RIM set up a database center here so that they can intercept and scrutinize BlackBerry users. How do you respond to this?

Answer: We don’t comment on specific country cases. But I can tell you instead that publicly we comply with local laws. Every single carrier in the world has lawful intercept requirements, and we do business in a country to support their laws. And we support all countries on a consistent basis to be a legal operating entity in their countries.

This is nothing new for us, and we are supporting any necessary requests from the government. It’s just a normal course of our business. I don’t comment on whether we do comply or we do not, or whether there has been a request. We’re not going to comment specifically, this is always confidential information. But like I said we comply with the laws and rules of every country, and every single carrier in the world has lawful interception requirements.

That’s a very normal aspect of the global telecommunication market. But they are handled based
on rules and state laws. So, if there’s a law for lawful interception in Indonesia then we have to comply with it. We cannot break the law. Whatever the laws are in that country we comply with them or we don’t do business there. We have to know the laws in Indonesia, then
we comply.

If there’s a possibility to comply, would it undermine your business here, since people use the BlackBerry devices for its highly secure network?

You have to go into the company to be able to get those (security) keys. That is not something we can give, so that enterprise security is preserved. And concerning how the company should hand over the data? That’s the question of the interception rules in that country. People have to comply or break the law. We’re not the ones who can break security, corporations have the key to security. It is not us who have the keys.

How big is the sale of BlackBerry devices and services here?

We are growing well, above 100 percent annually. Indonesia is a very fast growing market, very dynamic and exciting. That’s why we are investing more resources into Indonesia.

We try to get our best product here right away and we try to provide a range of products, such as Curve 3G and the Torch launch so that people will have various choices. We’re investing a lot in Indonesia, supporting local developers, local repairs and maintenance, and building more local infrastructure. These are the tasks that we are taking into this advanced wireless economy.

How big is the planned investment?

We haven’t broken out the money yet. Now that we have PT RIM Indonesia, we will start to have more involvement of our business here. There are a broad range of our activities that will impact the market, such as a workshop for local developers and the setting up of programming workshops and a curriculum with higher education institutions. So we are investing in resources here in Indonesia in order for us to be able to provide more local content developed by local developers.

It’s a surprise that RIM has done well here. What are the factors pulling the Indonesians into buying the BlackBerry devices?

People want to stay in contact with the people they care about, to have a close connection; the ability to collaborate and to connect. Indonesians like to stay in contact with people that they are close with, and the BlackBerry in Indonesian culture has been a wonderful connection.

It is efficient and valuable regarding the way in which Indonesians like to live. It was a pleasant surprise how fast (the business) took off here. You think something is right but you never know how quickly something is going to be adopted. I think it is just the right time, capability and segmentation of handset portfolio that people want to choose. It is just right. We’re going at virtually 100 percent per annum compounded growth.

We don’t break down specifically figures country by country, but clearly Indonesia has been a fantastic success. Southeast Asia has been a great growth area with Indonesia at the top. It’s among the most sophisticated markets that we have encountered.

So what is the upcoming trend in smartphones?

What you will see in smartphones is a huge growth in collaboration; personal digital manager, Twitter, Facebook and emails. People want richer and richer collaboration. I think we are seeing a lot more media and media consumption; how people consume books, newspapers, magazines and television shows.

The application game is going to change and smartphones will become more Internet friendly, or the Internet will become more mobile. We’re seeing smartphones and mobility becoming more Internet friendly so that instead of having special applications to connect to the Internet you just get the web.

Basically, it is the Web that is represented, as well as the mobility to changes. The key trends will be a lot more media, collaboration and a real defined discussion. Does the web fade away and become mobile, or does the mobile fit the web.

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