Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Cell Phone Makers Promote Push-to-Talk Technology in Europe

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 14:35:22 -0400

Cell Phone Makers Promote Push-to-Talk Technology in Europe

Cell phone manufacturers Nokia, Ericsson and Siemens are attempting to sell
Europe's wireless carriers on push-to-talk technology, the walkie-talkie-like
service that is popular in the U.S. Though major U.S. carriers have announced
plans to offer the service pioneered by Nextel Communications, European
carriers haven't been as enthusiastic about it. European carriers need to
understand the applications and potential of the technology, a Nokia business
development director said. So far, they seem to be taking the wait and see
approach.

=====================================================================================

Cellphone Makers Tout
New Idea: Walkie-Talkies?
'Push-to-Talk' Application Is Promoted
To Carriers as Low-Risk Revenue Source

By BUSTER KANTROW
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

STOCKHOLM -- As European mobile-phone
carriers cast about for successful new services, the
Continent's largest telecom-equipment makers are
hoping to interest them in a twist on an old standby:
voice.

Known as push-to-talk, the service allows
customers to use mobile phones like walkie-talkies,
communicating with a select group with the push of a
single button. It is being promoted by manufacturers
such as Nokia Corp., Telefon AB LM Ericsson and
Siemens AG as a way for operators to boost
revenue and cut down on customer turnover, at little
investment expense.

For now, push-to-talk is the calling card of Nextel
Communications Inc., the fifth-largest U.S. wireless
operator, which launched its Direct Connect service
a decade ago. But inspired by Nextel's success -- it
collects more revenue from its subscribers, on
average, than its rivals do and has a more loyal
customer base -- several other major U.S. carriers
are planning to launch push-to-talk, perhaps by the
end of the year. So far, that enthusiasm has yet to be
matched in Europe, at least publicly. But Nokia, for
one, says it expects European carriers to be close
behind their U.S. counterparts.

"We've started to talk to several major operators,"
says Tapio Heikkula, a business-development
director for Nokia's networks unit. Once they
understand the applications and potential, he says,
they get very excited.

Nokia, Ericsson and Siemens announced plans in
February to develop a common standard for
push-to-talk on cellular networks. None has yet
announced any customers, though a Siemens
spokeswoman said the company is on the short list
with several carriers that may make contract
decisions soon.

"Operators are very interested, particularly in the
U.S.," Siemens's Christina Dinne says. "We expect
to have European customers later."

With push-to-talk, users set up a group of friends or
colleagues on the phone, whom they can then contact simultaneously by pushing a
button on the handset.
Only one person can talk at a time and there is a slight transmission delay each
way. That could make it
like the trans-Atlantic phone calls of yesteryear, says Mark James, a
telecom-operator analyst at
Nomura Securities, who nevertheless refuses to dismiss its potential.

"There is just a dearth of new services," says Mr. James, adding that
push-to-talk caught his eye at an
industry trade show in France in February. "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."

Push-to-talk itself should require little new equipment, which makes it
attractive to operators. It is less
attractive for equipment makers, for whom the direct financial benefits are
likely to be very limited, says
Jussi Uskola, an analyst with Nordea Securities. But with the industry in an
extended malaise,
manufacturers such as Ericsson have begun to work more with operator customers
to help them identify
and develop new services.

Push-to-talk works best "where calling is a background activity," with
participants communicating
repeatedly but for short periods at a time, Nokia's Mr. Heikkula says. The
equipment companies want
operators to see it as something that won't cannibalize their existing voice
services, which still generate
the bulk of revenue. Operators will probably need to devise different ways of
charging for push-to-talk,
Mr. Heikkula adds. Nextel has multiple tariff plans, including many that include
unlimited Direct Connect
minutes.

So far, European operators seem to be taking a wait-and-see attitude. In the
U.K., mmO2 said it has a
technical trial of push-to-talk under way, while France Telecom SA's Orange SA,
France's largest
operator, says a decision on whether to launch the service is still six months
away. Both Nokia and
Ericsson say they expect commercial push-to-talk services to start early in
2004, by which time new
mobile-phone models should support it.

Nextel targets its Direct Connect service to business users, but Nokia, Ericsson
and others say the
service could eventually interest consumers as well.

Write to Buster Kantrow at [email-masked]

Updated April 16, 2003

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB105043479820714600-search,00.html?collection=wsjie%2F30day&vql_string=Ericsson+%3Cin%3E%28article%2Dbody%29

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