The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said back in October that it was planning to ditch RIM's BlackBerry operating system for iOS. It seems to have had a change of heart, however, because RIM announced on Thursday that ICE will be one of the first government organizations to partake in a new BlackBerry 10 pilot program.

"ICE has been a valued BlackBerry customer for years, and our commitment to government agencies has influenced the development of the BlackBerry 10 platform." said RIM's senior vice president of security Scott Totzke. "Along with providing workers with secure access to behind-the-firewall confidential information, BlackBerry 10 can help organizations fully leverage the potential of mobile technology to offer new services, improve service delivery and increase organizational productivity. We look forward to sharing more features of the BlackBerry 10 platform at our global launch event on January 30."

BlackBerry 10 already has the necessary security certification (FIPS 140-2) that is required by smartphone makers who plan to issue devices to government agencies. BlackBerry 10 will launch on January 30 and we recently published a video that allegedly details one of its first L-Series smartphones.

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Launch BlackBerry 10 Pilot Program

Washington D.C. – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) announced today that it will begin a pilot program with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the new BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10 mobile enterprise management solution and BlackBerry® 10 smartphones in early 2013. ICE will be among the first government organizations to pilot the new BlackBerry 10 solution.

"ICE has been a valued BlackBerry customer for years, and our commitment to government agencies has influenced the development of the BlackBerry 10 platform." said Scott Totzke, Senior Vice President, BlackBerry Security, Research In Motion. "Along with providing workers with secure access to behind-the-firewall confidential information, BlackBerry 10 can help organizations fully leverage the potential of mobile technology to offer new services, improve service delivery and increase organizational productivity. We look forward to sharing more features of the BlackBerry 10 platform at our global launch event on January 30."

RIM recently announced that the BlackBerry 10 platform has received FIPS 140-2 certification ahead of launch. The certification enables government agencies to deploy BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 from the day of launch. RIM first introduced mobile device management solutions more than a decade ago and continues to be a global leader in providing mobility solutions to government agencies.