Wireless distributor Brightstar lands in Australia

Global wireless product wholesaler Brightstar Corporation has landed in Australia and has signed an agreement to distribute Samsung's range of mobile handsets to the reseller channel.

The company -- based out of Miami, Florida in the US -- opened a subsidiary dubbed Brightstar Logistics with a distribution centre in Melbourne and sales offices in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.

The distributor operates 29 facilities in 21 countries worldwide and would compete head-on here with the likes of Cellnet, Brightpoint and Roadhound, said Lisa Burton, director of marketing, Asia-Pacific for Brightstar.

Under the Samsung arrangement, the company would distribute several handsets including the Samsung D500, X640 and E310.

The company would also be distributing products manufactured by printer vendor Kyocera and pre-paid handset manufacturer Sagem.

The operation was also negotiating with other handset manufacturers for distribution rights in Australia, said Burton.

Burton said the barriers to entry to Australia for the distributor were low, hence its decision to open an operation here.

Last year, Brightstar claimed it sold more than 18 million handsets worldwide working with more than 160 network operators.

The company also claimed it was one of the only wireless distribution companies in the world to have signed distribution arrangements with the top seven global wireless manufacturers.