Long-awaited 3G services in India may once again be placed on hold as the government has asked operators like Reliance Comm and Tata Teleservices to stop their launch of 3G. The telecom operators will only be allowed to resume launching 3G services once they have adhered to the government's security norms for legal interception.

It seems that these norms seem to mostly apply to 3G video calls. The Department of Telecommunications says that for security measures, they need to be able to intercept these video calls in real time. During a demonstration by the telecom operators, the DoT found that calls longer than eight minutes could not be intercepted.

This hold comes at the annoyance of privatetelecom operators as state-owned telecom operators, MTNL and BSNL have been allowed to roll out their 3G services with none of these security issues addressed. 

Tata Teleservices will offer wireless data services for Qualcomm's BREW solution to subscribers of its "Virgin Mobile" brand in India.

Qualcomm's BREW solution will ensure delivery of Virgin Mobile's latest content to mid- and high-end devices.

Virgin Mobile will leverage the BREW platform to present a full range of innovative and easy-to-use mobile content services, including entertainment (gaming, sports, astrology), music and messaging applications.

Additionally, Virgin Mobile will make available innovative offers to its subscribers such as unlimited access to Virgin Mobile's unique V-Bytes data portal for a daily charge of only Rs.5, whereincustomers can access free Virgin selected content and other targeted applications.

"Our target audience of tech savvy youth in India desires the latest mobile applications and services so that they can enjoy the power of their devices," said Jamie Heywood, deputy CEO for Virgin Mobile India. "BREW is allowing us to offer advanced data services to our end users efficiently with an expedited time to market."

"The BREW solution was a natural fit for Virgin Mobile, as it allows us to coordinate with the global BREW developer community, which includes a number of regional applications, for advanced data services on our current range of six handsets," said Deval Parikh, chief officer of handsets, VAS and Procurement for Virgin Mobile India.

"Virgin Mobile's strategy highlights the recent growth and overall potential of the Indian market for high-end data services and we believe that leveraging BREW is the best possible solution to meet the needs of their data-savvy customers," said Arvin Chander, vice president of global carrier relations for Qualcomm Internet Services. "Virgin Group as an entity has been known for achieving incredible success with unique business strategies, and Qualcomm looks forward to playing a pivotal role as Virgin Mobile redefines India's mobile data services landscape."

CNBC-TV18's Sandeep Gurumurthi reports that Tata Teleservices' application to offer BlackBerry Services in India has been rejected after the Department of Telecom (DoT) forwarded the request to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).Anil Sardana, Managing Director of TTSL, told reporters in New Delhi this morning that they were told by the MHA that the BlackBerry service does not allow for "lawful interception" mandated for all Value Added Services (VAS).Sources tell CNBC-TV18 that when Tata Tele asked DoT why other operators were being allowed, the DoT fired off letters to existing BlackBerry providers seeking an explanation. Sources also say that two rounds of discussion have happened between these operators and the MHA. A final call is expected to be taken in a meeting with the Telecom Secretary next week.A spokesperson from RIM – the company that offers the BlackBerry service – said: "RIM supports its carrier partners in India and we will work together with them to seek further clarity."

Security experts we spoke to were sceptical of the claim, saying that in June last year the French government had advised officials not to use BlackBerry services for precisely the opposite reasons. At that time, officals at RIM claimed that even they did not have access to the data on their servers (a questionable claim in itself), an explanation that could have them in a spot when they meet with Indian authorities.

Of course, we at Tech2.com are also sceptical about the national security bogey being brought up on every occasion. Indeed, the last thing the increasingly tech-savvy terrorist is likely to use is a BlackBerry. After all, he will either have to use corporate email or operator-provided mail (@blackberry.airtel.in, for example) both of which are easily traceable – it's not like RIM is a company that's going to disappear overnight.