Optiemus to Make and Sell BlackBerry Branded Mobiles in India

BlackBerry has inked an agreement to license BlackBerry software and services for the production of secure BlackBerry Android handsets in more global markets including India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.

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As per the agreement, Indian telecom enterprise, Optiemus Infracom Ltd will follow BlackBerry‘s recent global licensing agreement with TCL Communication and PT BlackBerry Merah Putih in Indonesia.

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According to the Blackberry-Optiemus deal, the company will license its security software and services suite, as well as related brand assets to the latter, which will design, manufacture, sell, promote and provide customer support for BlackBerry-branded mobile devices.

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BlackBerry will, however, continue to control and develop its security and software solutions and maintain, including its regular Android security updates to the platform.

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As per the agreement, Indian telecom enterprise, Optiemus Infracom Ltd will follow BlackBerry‘s recent global licensing agreement with TCL Communication and PT BlackBerry Merah Putih in Indonesia.

With this, BlackBerry marks global coverage for licensees in all markets to manufacture BlackBerry-branded devices, proving the firm is delivering on its licensing strategy and accelerating its transition to be a 'future-proof' security software and services company.

Importantly, the agreement between BlackBerry and Optiemus Infracom Ltd also supports the Indian Government’s 'Make in India' initiative, which aims to create local manufacturing and job opportunities.

Alex Thurber, Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Mobility Solutions at BlackBerry said: "India is a very important market for BlackBerry, so we are delighted our latest licensing partnership will extend the BlackBerry software experience to more customers and support the Indian government’s ‘Make In India’ agenda."