Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Qualcomm, Nokia to get pushy over Push-to-Talk

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 15:44:52 -0400

Qualcomm, Nokia to get pushy
Last modified: April 21, 2004, 11:57 AM PDT
By Ben Charny
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Qualcomm and Nokia appear headed for a smackdown over push-to-talk, the
service that lets cell phone customers talk to one another with just the
push of a button.

Nokia, Motorola, Siemens and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications back a
standard for push-to-talk known as Push-to-Talk Over Cellular. The
standard, however, won't likely be approved by standards bodies for
another year.
But during the last few weeks, Qualcomm has begun courting makers of
push-to-talk software that haven't joined the Nokia-led initiative.
These companies all make non-interoperable software that cell phone
service providers use to sell these walkie-talkie style calls. The San
Diego-based chipmaker wants to create a gateway, an entry and exit point
on a network, that would allow for push-to-talk calls between carriers
using these different types of software, said a source familiar with
Qualcomm's plans.

Aside from making chips used in about 18 percent of the world's phones,
Qualcomm also makes push-to-talk software that's called QChat. Joining
the Qualcomm initiative, according to a source familiar with Qualcomm's
moves, are Kodiak Networks, Togabi and Mobile Tornado.

Qualcomm asked push-to-talk software maker Sonim Technologies to join
the initiative, but the San Mateo, Calif.-based company declined,
according to Johan Samuelsson, Sonim's senior director of product
marketing.

For nearly a decade, Nextel Communications' DirectConnect was the only
push-to-talk service available worldwide. But in the last year or so,
Sprint and Verizon Wireless have launched rival PTT services. Still,
there are no inter-carrier push-to-talk calls.
Gateways represent a much quicker solution for carriers than waiting for
a standard to be finalized and adopted, a process that could take years
from inception to showing up in products, he said. But gateways are
expensive to buy and install, and billing issues "could be very messy,"
he adds.

Qualcomm representatives did not return calls seeking comment. The
company has been in a quiet period leading up to reporting of quarterly
earnings on Wednesday.

http://news.com.com/2100-1039-5196781.html

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