New Delhi, Nov. 30: The government is planning a central agency to monitor and intercept all modes of communication — satellite, wireline, wireless, Internet, e-mail and voice-over Internet protocol.

According to officials of the department of telecommunications (DoT), “Though some form of monitoring is present, different agencies have their own processes. Moreover, the inability to share information with other authorities makes it difficult to provide effective interception and translation of data.”

Reports say that terrorists who attacked Mumbai last week used satellite phones (sat phones) and mobiles, with foreign SIM cards. They also sent emails.

“Of all the communication channels, sat phones are the most prone to misuse as none of the international service providers have a hub in India,” said Sudipto Basu, a telecom analyst.

While it is easy to trace calls made from mobile phones using foreign SIM cards, security agencies do not possess the technology to intercept data travelling over sat phones.

Sat phones can be used for calls in any part of the world and they do not use a country’s domestic network.

Since sat phones are restricted to a few agencies in India, their providers have no hub in India.

“Under current circumstances, the DoT is studying the possibility of providing licences for operating sat phones on a commercial basis,” an official said.

However, the government would allow them in India if service providers shared user information, on the lines of the arrangement with BlackBerry operators.

BlackBerry services came under the government’s scanner earlier this year. An application by CDMA mobile operator Tata Teleservices to launch the service was rejected because security agencies did not have a system to monitor data between BlackBerry phones.