CELL PHONE MAKERS PUSH PUSH-TO-TALK

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 10:40:31 -0700
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] CELL PHONE MAKERS PUSH PUSH-TO-TALK


CELL PHONE MAKERS PUSH PUSH-TO-TALK

Europe's largest cell phone makers are touting a new twist on an old idea
-- push-to-talk -- as a way for operators to boost revenue and cut down on
customer churn at little investment expense. The concept has proven
successful for Nextel, which launched its Direct Connect service aimed at
business customers a decade ago. With push-to-talk, users set up a group of
friends or colleagues who can then be contacted simultaneously by pushing a
button on the handset. Only one person can talk at a time, and there's a
slight transmission delay, but the service has proven a money-maker for
Nextel, which collects more revenue per subscriber than its rivals do and
boasts a more loyal customer base. "There is just a dearth of new
services," says one telecom-operator analyst. "The phones are getting
sexier, no doubt. But beyond photo-messaging, find me a new service? Well,
here's one, so perhaps I shouldn't be so churlish about it." Nokia,
Ericsson and Siemens announced plans in February to develop a common
standard for push-to-talk on cellular networks, and several major U.S.
carriers are planning to launch a push-to-talk service, perhaps by the end
of the year. Meanwhile, European operators are watching to gauge consumer
enthusiasm in the U.S. before they debut their own services. (Wall Street
Journal 16 Apr 2003)
<http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105043479820714600.djm,00.html>

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