BUSINESS

BlackBerry Gets The Go-Ahead

Bloomberg

MOSCOW — Mobile TeleSystems and VimpelCom, Russia’s biggest mobile-phone companies, got permission to import BlackBerry e-mail devices after overcoming opposition from the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB.

The Economy Ministry notified the companies on Thursday that their applications were approved, Mobile TeleSystems spokeswoman Irina Osadchaya and VimpelCom spokeswoman Yekaterina Osadchaya said by phone in Moscow on Friday.

“We will be able to offer this service to customers at the start of the second quarter,” said Irina Osadchaya, who isn’t related to Yekaterina.

The FSB refused to allow the unlimited use of the BlackBerry handsets until it gained the ability to read messages sent to and from the devices. Mobile TeleSystems and VimpelCom granted access to their e-mail servers after Research In Motion Ltd., the Waterloo, Canada-based maker of the BlackBerry, refused to provide its source codes, Vedomosti newspaper reported Friday, citing unidentified executives from the Russian companies.

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