The St. Petersburg Times  

Issue #1353 (17), Tuesday, March 4, 2008

BUSINESS

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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.

More stories by this section:

Goodyear Opens Store in St. Petersburg | BoNY Fails to Get Russian Lawsuit Dismissed in Court | Outlook Good For Sberbank | In Brief | VTB Reaches Record Low | Gazprom Cuts Supplies To Ukraine Amidst Row | Barclays Purchases Expobank | LCMC Introduces Auditing Service | Renault Acquires 25% Stake in AvtoVaz | KIT IPO Delayed | Markets Plunge Amid Recession Worries | VW To Control Scania | HSBC Sees Profits Rise Despite Subprime Crisis | Warren Buffett: America Is Essentially In a Recession

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