It is quite interesting to see Research In Motion Ltd. claims how BlackBerry shutdown could threaten public safety and business productivity. Even though there are alternatives to BlackBerry, the reserach suggests those solutions would require efforts by companies and users to migrate:
… RIM’s filing included supportive comments by emergency, government and business leaders. In fact, RIM said it believes the federal government is the single largest user of BlackBerry devices. Federal, local and state officials have made the devices a key part of their emergency response plans. Many government users and contractors also use it for daily communications…
Point taken that the BlackBerry devices are used by many officials in governments – but the claim of threat of public safety is a bit far stretching.
RIM: BlackBerry Shutdown May Hurt U.S. – [Yahoo! News]