Optiemus signs agreement to make and sell Blackberry phones in India

Blackberry on Monday said that it has signed an agreement with India's Optiemus Infracom to license its security software and services suite, as well as related brand assets. 

Alex Thurber, Senior Vice President, General Manager, Mobility Solutions at BlackBerry said, "With its infrastructure and experience in manufacturing, and proven success as our distribution partner, Optiemus Infracom Ltd is the ideal partner to design and manufacture trusted BlackBerry secure Android handsets for customers in India and neighboring markets."

He added, "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."

Ashok Gupta, Chairman of Optiemus Infracom Ltd said, "Our exclusive partnership with BlackBerry, a brand synonymous with secure mobile communications, shows how we are continuing to partner and innovate to bring the latest in handset design and experience, combining the security of BlackBerry and versatility of Android, to our customers in the world's fastest growing smartphone market."

Optiemus will design, manufacture, sell, promote and provide BlackBerry-branded mobile devices  to not only Indian customers but also customers in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. 

With this latest regional deal, BlackBerry has achieved full global coverage for licensees in all markets to manufacture BlackBerry-branded devices. 

Blackberry said, "Additional information on the product road map and availability of new devices manufactured by Optiemus will be available in coming months."

Shares of Optiemus were trading at Rs 65 per piece on BSE, surging by 4.92%.