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Although it might not come as a surprise to many folks considering the fact that Waterloo is the home of BlackBerry, the Council of the City of Waterloo on Monday voted to enter into a new three year agreement between Bell Mobility and the City of Waterloo for the continued provision of BlackBerry and Cellular Services worth $516,000 over a three year period. Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran stated the smartphones have changed the way the city does business, and how it reacts to residents needs.

A lot of our crews will have them — all our planners, our bylaw guys who are out, firefighters," she said. "We just feel that it keeps us connected so that if we need to get anything done we have instant connection.

The City of Waterloo recent launched their Ping Street app that was created to help residents connect and access information including waste pickup, events, road closures and government contact information. Halloran also added that the city is not looking to use any different brand of smartphone other than BlackBerry at this time. 

According to comments given to Mobile Syrup, the City of Waterloo maintains 204 BlackBerry devices and 166 mobile phone devices of which, 50 of the BlackBerry devices have been upgraded to BlackBerry 10.

Download the Ping Street app for BlackBerry 10, iOS and Android

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