Subject: [NEXTEL-1] EXCLUSIVE: SprintPCS trials little known push-to-talk technology

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 13:39:41 -0500

EXCLUSIVE: SprintPCS trials little known push-to-talk technology

February 14, 2003
By: Kirk Laughlin

EXCLUSIVE: SprintPCS trials little known push-to-talk technology

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — SprintPCS is trialing a push-to-talk solution by an Israeli
company, Mobile Tornado, and likely will become the first U.S. carrier, besides
Nextel, to introduce a commercial version of the walkie-talkie feature, according
to an informed industry source.

SprintPCS and virtually all other U.S. wireless carriers are evaluating
push-to-talk solutions, and, after a number of months of false starts and
rumored launches, actual deployments appear to be growing near. Commercial
availability of push-to-talk solutions that rival Nextel’s Direct Connect is likely
to set the stage for a major readjustment in the way instant voice
communication is marketed, sold and provisioned.

SprintPCS currently has no agreements with any push-to-talk vendors,
SprintPCS spokesperson Dan Wilinsky told America’s Network Weekly.
When asked about Mobile Tornado, Wilinsky said, “We may or may not have
trialed that solution.” Wilinsky also did not offer details on when SprintPCS is
likely to begin offering push-to-talk.

“We have the technology in place to go to push-to-talk with our CDMA-1xRTT
network,” Wilinsky said.
Verizon Wireless, also believed to be aggressively pursuing push-to-talk, is
reportedly targeting launch of the feature during the third-quarter of this year.
Mobile Tornado is one of several companies, including Sonim, Winphoria and
FastMobile, which possess push-to-talk software technologies and are actively
courting U.S. carriers.

FastMobile announced in late January that it successfully completed a
push-to-talk test between Chicago and London using off-the-shelf Nokia
handsets, the 7650 and 3650. The call was routed across a GPRS network,
originating on T-Mobile’s network in the United States and terminating on
networks run by Orange and Vodafone. The test was completed without
requiring hardware changes to the handsets, according to the company.
Mobile Tornado sells both a push-to-talk solution, called IPRS, and a
push-to-send solution. IPRS uses a VoIP platform, allowing unlimited
international roaming, according to company materials.

Solutions like those offered by Mobile Tornado are appealing because they
enable interconnection across all packet-based wireless networks, linking, for
example, a CDMA-1x network subscriber with a GPRS network subscriber. The
solution has been described as a voice version of short messaging, and may
draw strong subscriber interest in parts of the world, such as Europe or Asia,
where SMS usage has exploded over the last several years.

Mobile Tornado is actively seeking a U.S.-based partner to bolster its chances
of acceptance, and Comverse, a well-known wireless software company, is one
of those companies considering an alliance, the industry source said.

A Comverse spokesperson said the company had no comment on the matter.
Perhaps the most powerful fact about push-to-talk is that, unlike myriad 3G
wireless applications, it has proved itself capable of drawing significant
revenue. About 90% of Nextel’s 10 million subscribers use Direct Connect.
Nextel has been critical of potential push-to-talk rivals, arguing that call set up
time will be significantly slower than Direct Connect, which establishes a
connection in “sub-second” time.

Setting up a connection using a terminal with client software from Mobile
Tornado, for comparison, reportedly takes about 1.3 seconds.
“People will put up with a longer set up time if they can connect with other
carriers, not just with Nextel,” said Vik Grover, an analyst with Kaufman
Brothers, who anticipates Nextel’s strange-hold on push-to-talk will erode over
the next few years

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