Embattled smartphone maker Research in Motion has reportedly lost another major government client, with the Irish parliament (the Oireachtas) dropping support for the troubled BlackBerry platform.
According to Silicon Republic, lower house members (teachta dála or TDs) and senators have been advised that the ICT team will switch off the Oireachtas BlackBerry Messaging server in June or July of next year, with the number of BlackBerry smartphones falling from 180 to just 61.
The additional cost of supporting the system over competitors such as Android and Apple was also cited as a key factor in the decision.
There has been a tender to purchase iPads as replacements for the BlackBerrys, but this has been replaced by a scheme whereby TDs and senators will purchase iPads from a bulk order placed by the ICT team.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
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