Pentagon Will Open Networks to Apple, Google Devices in 2014

The U.S. Defense Department said it will begin opening its communications networks by next February to mobile phones and tablet computers from Apple and Google.

The move may pose a threat to BlackBerry’s dominance at the Pentagon, which has more than 450,000 of the company’s devices. BlackBerry has lost market share to competitors and seeks to make a comeback with its new BlackBerry 10 phone. The device will go on sale in the U.S. next month. The Pentagon said it wants employees to have the flexibility to use commercial products on its systems, including its classified network for the first time. It plans to create a military mobile applications store and hire a contractor to build a system that may eventually handle as many as 8 million devices.