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Brightstar Corp., a multi-billion dollar global services company providing solutions to manufacturers, operators, retailers, and enterprises in the telecommunications industry, announced an expansion of its distribution agreement with RIM into Africa. Through its distribution centers and staff in Africa, Brightstar will initially distribute the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphones, in addition to BlackBerry software and accessories in the Sub Sahara Africa region, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Cote D'Ivoire, Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique. Arturo Osorio, President Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa at Brightstar stated "This expanded agreement underscores the strategic nature of our alliance with RIM and our growing global presence within the industry. We look forward to taking our customized channel solutions and insights and working together to bring a larger portfolio of BlackBerry smartphones into this new market."

Deon Liedenberg, Regional Director for Sub Sahara Africa at RIM, also shared the excitement: "We are pleased to further our relationship with Brightstar in order to expand our reach in the market. We look forward to working with Brightstar to bring more BlackBerry smartphones to more countries in Africa." A close relationship with Brightstar is only growing stronger, as RIM strives to expand its products on a global scale. In addition to Africa, Brightstar currently distributes BlackBerry products to network operators, retailers and Value-Added Resellers (VARs) in the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.