And another one bites the dust—for Blackberry, that is. The National Transportation Safety Board became the latest of a slew of federal agencies that are dropping Canadian Research in Motion’s Blackberry smartphones in favor of the Apple iPhone. Citing performance issues, the NTSB will replace about 400 existing RIM Blackberrys that “have been failing both at inopportune times and at an unacceptable rate,” with the iPhone 5. NTSB, which investigates plane crashes, stated in a filing it “requires effective, reliable and stable communication capabilities to carry out its primary investigative mission and ensure employee safety in remove locations.” The agency plans to take advantage of a device refresh facility offered by its carrier Verizon Wireless at no additional cost.

Many other government agencies have already or are planning to make the change from RIM to Apple. The U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement said last month it would move more than 17,600 Blackberry users to the iPhone platform because RIM could no longer meet the mobile technology needs of the agency. Likewise, the Defense Department’s Information Systems Agency program ended its relationship with RIM, and now plans to purchase more than 162,000 iPhones with the potential to increase iPhone usage to 8 million devices. Even President Obama, who was often seen using a Blackberry during his first term of office, has made the transition to an iPad.

RIM’s vice president of global solutions Paul Lucier told USA Today, however, that government agencies that have trusted Blackberry for its reliability and security for more than 10 years can continue to do so.

“Blackberry remains the most reliable, secure and robust end-to-end mobile communications platform ever,” Lucier said. “We have one 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.”

Samantha Lile

Samantha Lile is a 2002 Missouri State University graduate of journalism and mass media. She has served as a reporter and editor for various newspapers throughout her journalism career. She made the leap into writing full-time after working for a major financial institution since 2000.

Because of her banking background, Samantha is knowledgeable in finance reporting, but is also strong in commentaries, personal profiles, youth studies, horticulture, history and entertainment-related works.

Samantha lives in Ozark, Mo. with her husband of nine years, four dogs and two cats.

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