Anita Rachman & Ismira Lutfia – Communication and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring is holding firm to his Jan. 21 deadline for the manufacturer of BlackBerry to filter access to pornographic Web sites on the device's browser, among other requirements.

"The government is obliged to protect its citizens who use BlackBerry," he said, reiterating that the ministry would not back down on the deadline.

The ministry also wants Research In Motion, the Canadian manufacturer of BlackBerry, to indicate their willingness to comply with the requirements in a formal letter.

Speaking to reporters before the start of a meeting with the House of Representatives' Commission I, Tifatul said that RIM has also agreed to the ministry's demand to enable authorities to legally intercept and monitor messages exchanged on the device.

The ministry would also be verifying RIM's claims that it has opened 40 service centers in the country, Tifatul said.

"They are committed to complying with our requirements, although for some points, we are still giving them time [to fulfill the requirements], until Jan. 21, as I have previously demanded from them," he said.

Tifatul added that RIM is planning on setting up a network aggregator in the Southeast Asian region.

"Indonesia is their biggest market base in Southeast Asia and we would like them to set it up here so that it will reduce the BlackBerry tariff here," he said.