BlackBerry, as part of its global plans, is looking to expand its services in India. In light of its recent acquisitions of Movirtu and QNX and implementation of BES12, the company thinks that the Asian country exhibits robust growth potential as the Internet of Things and cloud services are rapidly growing in the region.
More ease for users
Essentially, Movirtu, a virtual SIM platform, allows consumers and enterprises to use up to nine phone numbers through a single SIM card. Through this, a given user can manage both personal and professional data on the same device, thus alleviating the need to use separate numbers for different purposes such as e-commerce, social networking, etc.
Previously, BlackBerry CEO John Chen said the virtual platform would aid employees as they “switch between profiles for calls, data and messages, while on their home network and in roaming situations.” Moreover, users will be provided with separate bills for voice, Internet and messaging services for each of the numbers being used. Along with this, Movirtu will offer a number of applications for the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) system in the corporate world.
BlackBerry to bring QNX, Movirtu to India soon
In addition, the company intends to launch QNX in India that would provide a common secure platform for various healthcare institutions to interact with each other. Sunil Lalvani, the company’s managing director in India, said in an interview with ET that the main aim is to develop software that can function on all operating systems, including Android and iOS, and can also be beneficial to customers who use non-BlackBerry devices in the $100-$200 range. The software, along with BlackBerry’s sought-after security solutions, has already contributed to the revenue growth of the company.
Movirtu, a U.K.-based start-up, was acquired by BlackBerry last year. The smartphone company has already launched the virtual SIM platform in seven countries, with the main focus being on Africa. On the other hand, QNX has been approved by 16 of the G20 countries and has also found applications in NASA aircraft. And now the Canadian firm seeks to launch both services in India. Recently the smartphone developer indicated that Movirtu would reach the country by the end of this year.
