Nicolas Sarkozy given 'impenetrable' superphone

By Henry Samuel in Paris
Telegraph.co.uk
07 Jan 2010

President Sarkozy got to grips with the Teorem phone, which looks like a regular smartphone, while on a visit to the Thales Communication factory in Cholet, western France.

Some 20,000 such devices will be distributed to the president and his entourage as well as government ministers and their advisers early next year. Top military officials will also use them.

The superphone's designers said the phone "guarantees a very high safety level," and has the added advantage of being able to use commercial mobile networks or fixed secure lines.

"It's beautiful", the president could be heard saying during the visit.

Shortly after Mr Sarkozy's election in 2007, workers in the offices of the president and prime minister were reportedly ordered not to use handheld BlackBerry devices, amid fears that foreigners could spy on them.