Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Sprint PCS gets good marks on PTT launch

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 15:52:34 -0500

Sprint PCS gets good marks on PTT launch

Nov. 17, 2003

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.

Industry analysts have initially given Sprint PCS’ recently launched Ready Link
service positive reviews noting the service is superior to Verizon Wireless’
Push-to-Talk service, but not quite up to the industry-leading level of Nextel
Communications Inc.’s Direct Connect offering. 

Initial testing by RBC Capital Markets showed Ready Link provided set-up latency
of between two and two and a half seconds versus five to six seconds or longer
with Verizon Wireless and between half a second and one and a half seconds with
Nextel. Round-trip intra-call latency was measured at between three and a half
and four seconds on the Ready Link service compared with five and a half seconds
with Verizon Wireless and a negligible delay with Nextel. 

RBC telecommunications analyst Jonathan Atkin noted Ready Link gained its
intra-call latency advantage over Verizon Wireless through a lower talk-time
permit latency of seven-tenths of a second compared with nearly two seconds
using the Verizon Wireless service. 

Atkin added that Ready Link’s strong performance along with an attractive
handset selection and pricing should allow for stronger growth than Verizon
Wireless has seen since its launched its service earlier this year. 

“Based on how the PCS Ready Link product currently performs, coupled with its
handset selection and pricing, we believe the company will see a stronger ramp
in PTT penetration than [Verizon Wireless], though we believe that [Nextel’s]
differentiation should remain intact due to its still-superior performance,”
said Atkin. 

While Ready Link’s performance was better than expected, the service was not
without its early problems as the Web page set-up to allow customers to manage
their group contacts list was not operational early Monday. 

 http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=15963

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