Irish government swapping BlackBerry for Apple iPhone and Android models

The Irish government is ending its support for the BlackBerry in a cost-saving measure, and is replacing them with the Apple iPhone and Android flavored handsets. The decision to toss the 'Berrys allows the lower House of the Oireachtas to stop paying for a BlackBerry Enterprise Server when no such server is used for Apple or Android smartphones. A spokesman for the House said, "The provision of support for BlackBerrys carries the additional cost of two separate servers, power, cooling, administration and annual support."
 
In another change, the House also scrapped plans to buy 300 Apple iPads at a cost of €150,000 ($197,000 USD) and €200,000 ($262,800 USD). Saying that it was too costly, the government got together with Vodafone to purchase the tablets at a wholesale price and will sell them to Senator's and Teachta Dála's in the House of the Oireachtas. The government wants the tablets to be able to "print on demand" parliamentary documents.

The move by the Irish government away from BlackBerry handsets follows similar moves made by governments in the U.S., U.K. and Uganda.

source: SiliconRepublic via TUAW