Blackberry Communication Devices

I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act how much has been spent by the force on BlackBerry communication devices in the past two years - or the most recent two year period available.

If possible please provide details with the quantity and models of the handsets purchased.

In accordance with section 1(1) (b) of the Act our response is provided below;

• We spent approx £72,000 per annum on Blackberry Account charges in 2008 and 2009.
• We averaged 250 Blackberry connections which are charged at £288 per anum.
• We spent approximately £7,280 in 2008 and £2,800 in 2009 on one off connection charges.
• We added 52 new connections in 2008 which involved paying an average handset price of £105 and a CAL fee of £35 .
• We added 35 new connections in 2009 which involved paying an average handset price of £45 and a CAL fee of £35.

The handset price has gradually decreased over the past few years. We now do not pay for new handsets or replacement handsets as these costs are taken out of a hardware credit given to us by the supplier when we commenced the current contract.

The above figures do not include the voice usage charges applicable to blackberries. For call usage we are billed by the service provider on a cost code basis where voice calls whether made from a Blackberry or mobile phone are billed directly to specific cost centres and therefore it is not possible to report on which calls are made from blackberries and which calls are made from mobile phones.