About an hour ago, I got a tip in the mail saying that BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) would be available on Samsung’s Galaxy range of smartphones on the 19th of September. Samsung and BlackBerry have already announced that BlackBerry messenger BBM would be part of the messaging hub on the Galaxy range soon, so besides the date, it really isn’t news. I tweeted it, but didn’t make much of it.

A few minutes later, another source let me know that MTN Nigeria had sent an internal communication to its front-line staff telling them to brace up for customer inquiries following the availability of BBM Samsung Galaxy devices from the 19th. To be certain I have reached out to some contacts and can confirm that the news is indeed legit.

It is unclear if the app would be available on iTunes and Google Play as well on the said date. One source mentioned that the app may be a Samsung exclusive for 3 months but isn’t sure if the exclusivity would be just in Africa or Worldwide.

Update: The exclusive deal is really happening, Samsung just confirmed that to me via twitter.

YES WE DID!!!! Available frm Friday RT @supersanusi: If Samsung really did get the 3 month exclusive like I heard, that would be something — Samsung Mobile NG (@samsungmobileng) September 16, 2013

In related news, the apk of the BBM app for android is out in the wild, but it is pointless to install, because BlackBerry has locked down the access to the beta to only registered BBIDs on the beta program. If you still want to see if you can get it to work using some magic we all don’t know about, you will find it here.

Update: This post “caught fire” all over the internet last night, with most sites stressing the exclusivity bit. Crackberry reached out and got the following response from BlackBerry:

“The excitement around the upcoming BBM launch on iPhone and Android devices seems to know no bounds. Although I’m a big fan of this passion, I want to clarify that no one will have an exclusive on offering BBM. We’ll be bringing the app to Android and iPhone users across the globe soon.” – BBM Communications Director at BlackBerry, Victoria Berry.

Seems pretty straightforward. Now we wait.