Another United States government agency is dropping RIM's BlackBerry in favor of Apple's latest iPhone.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is ditching the device in order for its employees to utilize the iPhone 5 instead. The agency announced its plan during a government filing last week, with the reason being that BlackBerry isn't reliable.
BlackBerry devices have been "failing both at inopportune times and at an unacceptable rate," the agency said. The organization, which has 400 employees, "requires effective, reliable and stable communication capabilities to carry out its primary investigative mission and to ensure employee safety in remote locations."
The NTSB is responsible for instantly investigating airplane accidents alongside other transportation disasters. RIM has experienced two global service disruptions on its network, including one that occurred in September, which may have played its part in the agency's decision.
Research in Motion, however, pointed towards the number of government employees it currently provides its services to. "Government organizations globally have trusted the reliability and security of BlackBerry for over a decade. They can continue to do so," the firm told CNET.
"We have 1 million government customers in North America alone who depend on BlackBerry, and more than 400,000 government customers worldwide upgraded their devices in the past year," it added. "We are committed to the mobility needs of government agencies around the world and will continue to meet these needs with BlackBerry 10."
The Pentagon is another high-profile government agency that had announced plans to drop RIM's devices. It's looking to move up to 8 million employees to the iPhone and Android-powered smartphones. Authorities aren't the only ones moving away from BlackBerry, however; a total of 25,000 staff members will also make the same transition from consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, as will the 17,600 employees stemming from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
BlackBerry 10, meanwhile, is due for a launch on January 30, 2013. The upcoming mobile platform has passed government security certification, allowing the operating system to be used within secure government workplaces.
