EADS, RIM to Deliver BlackBerry to Government Organizations in Europe

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, June 7, 2005/Satnews Daily/ — EADS and Research In Motion (RIM) have agreed to form a strategic alliance focused on delivering localized wireless data solutions to government organizations across Europe. The companies said they began working together earlier this year with an initial focus on achieving security certification of the BlackBerry wireless platform for use within the Government of France.

BlackBerry is a wireless data solution for government agencies in North America, and RIM is expanding its efforts with government customers around the world. Individual countries typically set their own specific requirements and processes to certify communications technologies for government use. EADS and RIM said they intend to work closely to achieve localized certifications of BlackBerry in a range of government sectors throughout Europe.

“EADS has tremendous credentials and respect within security communities in Europe and we believe this alliance will be welcomed by both government and corporate customers who are eager to deploy the BlackBerry wireless platform to enhance operations, productivity and responsiveness,” said Mike Lazaridis, president and Co-CEO at RIM.  

The two companies said collaboration between EADS and RIM has already enabled significant progress toward satisfying European government requirements. EADS Corporate Research Center recently completed an extensive security review and RIM has addressed all requirements presented by EADS to date. The companies plan to continue working together to complete the government security certification processes.

“The collaboration of EADS Corporate Research Center with RIM has been outstanding and mutually beneficial,” added Jean-Louis Gergorin, head of EADS Strategic Coordination and member of the EADS executive committee. “We will continue to work with RIM to enhance security features and ensure our customers' strict security requirements continue to be satisfied as technologies evolve.”

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