Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Verizon jams Nextel's 'walkie-talkie' monopoly

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 21:19:26 -0500

Washington Business Journal - February 13, 2003
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2003/02/10/daily36.html

Verizon jams Nextel's 'walkie-talkie' monopoly

Jeff Clabaugh   Staff Reporter

Reston-based Nextel Communications' famous walkie-talkie feature, which lets users talk to
each other with a push of a button, has been exclusively its offering. But Verizon is
about to muscle in.

The company will introduce a push-to-talk feature before the end of the year, Bloomberg
News quotes Verizon CEO Dennis Strigl as saying at a Legg Mason Wood Walker investor
conference in New York.

Nextel stock (Nasdaq: NXTL) fell 3.5 percent, or 45 cents, to $12.31 in Thursday trading.

Nextel's phones function as both traditional cellular phones as well as walkie-talkie-like
devices using phones designed by Motorola. They're popular with realtors, public safety
workers, construction workers and others who need immediate access to co-workers. The
unique feature has been credited with Nextel's strong growth in subscribership.

Nextel added 480,000 new subscribers in the final quarter of 2002, bringing its total
subscriber base to just over 10 million. It is also retaining most of its customers with a
churn rate of just two percent last quarter.

In November, Nextel introduced a version of a Blackberry PDA, made by Research In Motion,
that also incorporates its digital wireless service and walkie-talkie feature.

Verizon Wireless is a joint venture between Verizon and Vodaphone. It is the largest
wireless company by subscribers in the country.

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