Bits Blog: Government Agency Will Give RIM Another Chance

Robert Galbraith/Reuters Thorsten Heins, the chief executive of Research In Motion, discussing the BlackBerry 10 in September.

Perhaps there’s hope for the BlackBerrys after all. A United States government agency that had announced plans to dump the BlackBerry for the iPhone says it’s willing to give Research in Motion’s coming BlackBerry 10 smartphones a shot.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, says it will start a pilot program early next year to test the new BlackBerry phones.

In October, the agency said it was planning to buy iPhones for its 17,600 employees and stop issuing BlackBerry devices because they could “no longer meet the needs of the agency.” But it told Reuters that it was developing mobile apps for law enforcement and looking into whether the BlackBerry 10 could come in handy in the future.

RIM introduced the new BlackBerry 10 software in May. The company has delayed the release of new BlackBerry phones with the software several times, but it appears that they will finally arrive early next year.

Scott Totzke, RIM’s senior vice president of BlackBerry security, said in a statement that the company designed the BlackBerry 10 to provide businesses with secure services and to bolster productivity.

“ICE has been a valued BlackBerry customer for years, and our commitment to government agencies has influenced the development of the BlackBerry 10 platform,” he said. He said the company would share more details about the BlackBerry 10 in an event announcing the phones on Jan. 30.