Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Former Nextel Executive Starts a New Spin- "Push-to-talk" Set to Spread

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 00:32:10 -0400

"Push-to-talk" Set to Spread
April 15, 2003
By Jonathan Angel

With an ordinary cell phone, you can call anybody -- so at first blush it's hard
to see why the
cellular industry is excited about what it's calling push-to-talk (PTT for
short). But PTT is a
sort of voice-based instant messaging solution: It lets users view presence
information of
their friends and colleagues, instantly connect in "walkie-talkie" mode with one
or more of
them, or leave voice messages without calling.

Plus, calls to voice buddies can be made at low -- or no -- cost, unlike a
normal cell phone
connection. Nextel, the first US carrier to offer PTT as its Direct Connect
service, is said to
have the lowest annual churn rate in the industry -- only 2.1 percent. And its
average
revenue per user each month is $70, higher than any other carrier.

Now, PTT is set to spread to other carriers, thanks to Sonim Technologies of San
Mateo,
Calif., which bills itself as the leader in providing PTT infrastructure.
Yesterday, it
announced that Wade Vesey -- a former Nextel executive -- has joined Sonum as
its chief
marketing officer. As director of market development for Nextel, Vesey helped
introduce
Direct Connect, managing target marketing and distribution solutions for its
nationwide
rollout.

"With its significant financial impact on customer acquisition, retention and
revenue
creation, Nextel's Direct Connect is one of the truly differentiated voice
services in recent
years," says Vesey. "With Sonim's ... solution .... operators worldwide are now
able to
launch interoperable and enhanced PTT services to a mass user market. By working
on
multiple device types and across all networks, Sonim solves the fundamental
proprietary
issues we faced at Nextel."

"Despite being deployed commercially with no interoperability, limited range,
and on a
limited set of devices, PTT is (already) a multi-billion dollar service in North
America,"
adds Bob Plaschke, cfo at Sonim. "Operators can now immediately roll out PTT
with the
Sonim Server, confident that the service will work across Nokia, Siemens and
other major
handset manufacturers."

http://www.adweek.com/aw/search/search_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1865744

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