Encrypted mobile phones for top officials to deal with emergencies

NEW DELHI: Government will soon be providing to its top officials encrypted mobile phones that will be working on reserved air frequency to ensure they have smooth communication in emergency situations like a bomb attack which see clogging of lines.

A high-level meeting is likely to be convened in Prime Ministers' Office soon during which the issues pertaining to having a secure mobile system will be discussed by top officials, official sources said here today.

The need for having a secure mobile phone system for country's top leaders and bureaucrats was felt after telephone lines got jammed post-bomb blasts and natural disasters, leading to difficulties in communication among officials due frequent call droppings.

The meeting will also chalk out list of bureaucrats who would be getting these mobile phones that will be working on an altogether separate frequency, they said.

Requisite permissions from various ministries will also be discussed at the meeting, they said, maintaining that a go ahead may be given for a plan asking all concerned departments to fastrack the process.

A secure telephone provides voice security in the form of "end-to-end" encryption of the call, and in some cases also ensures mutual authentication of the calling parties, protecting them against any interception attack.