British garbage collectors to get 1,500 BlackBerrys

First it was the rozzers, now British bin men are getting BlackBerrys as part of their job equipment pack. Biffa, a private garbage collection firm responsible for cleaning up 25 local authorities around the UK, has agreed a £1.7 million ($2.44 million) deal with Vodafone for the provision of some 1,500 BlackBerry handsets along with dongles and 3G data cards. This somewhat curious capital investment has been made in order to allow drivers to download maps, collect data from customers, liaise with head office, and even take photos where necessary. The RIM phones will also allow Biffa to track its trucks’ locations — an option that’s sure to get plenty of use, considering how much Brits love to keep an eye on things.

British garbage collectors to get 1,500 BlackBerrys originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 May 2010 08:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gizmodo  |  Daily Telegraph  | Email this | Comments

This post is tagged: 3G, biffa, bin, bin man, bin men, BinMan, BinMen, BlackBerry, blackberrys, Capital, capital investment, collection, daily telegraph, data cards, deal, dongles, download, Engadget, equipment, firm, fri, garbage, garbage collection, garbage collectors, garbage disposal, garbage truck, GarbageCollection, GarbageDisposal, GarbageTruck, Gizmodo, head, investment, job, liaise, local authorities, Maps, nbsp, Office, order, pack, part, pound, ProVision, rim, rubbish, rubbish collection, rubbish collectors, RubbishCollection, RubbishCollectors, surveillance, surveillance society, SurveillanceSociety, trash, trash collection, TrashCollection, trucks, UK, united kingdom, UnitedKingdom, use, vodafone, vodafone uk, VodafoneUk