Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Sprint Launches Push To Talk

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 14:55:06 -0500

Sprint Launches Push To Talk

By Sue Marek
November 17, 2003
news@2 direct
 
The push-to-talk playing field just became a bit more crowded. After months of
discussion and endless hinting by executives, Sprint PCS today launched its PCS
Ready Link push-to-talk service. Sprint joins push-to-talk veteran Nextel
Communications Inc. and newcomer Verizon Wireless, which launched its PTT
service last August. Like Verizon Wireless, Sprint is using equipment from
Motorola's Winphoria Division for its PCS Ready Link PTT solution.

PCS Ready Link is available to Sprint subscribers as a stand-alone service for
an additional $15 per month for unlimited calling or Sprint PCS Vision
subscribers can add the service to their account for an additional $5 per month.
For Sprint's top-tier customers, or those on $100 per month or higher rate
plans, the Ready Link service will be included at no additional cost. 

Initially the service will be available with two Sanyo handsets both priced at
$149.99. One handset is a ruggedized version intended for the business and
enterprise market; the other has a silver clamshell design similar to the
popular Sanyo 8100. Both have color screens and PCS Vision capability. They also
both have a dedicated button on the side of the device for the Ready Link
service. 

A third Sanyo Ready Link phone will be available in a few weeks. The new phones
and Ready Link service are available through all of Sprint's distribution
channels, including its indirect retailers such as RadioShack. 

Sprint is using PTT equipment from Motorola's Winphoria Division with additional
equipment from Core Mobility and Dynamic Software. According to Jeff Hallock,
assistant vice president of consumer product marketing for Sprint PCS, the
solution has been optimized so the setup time for a PTT call is less than 4
seconds and the volleys back and forth are instantaneous. "We have engineered
Ready Link so it's different from Verizon," Hallock says. "We have optimized
it."

In addition, Ready Link subscribers will be able to manage their calling lists
through the Web or via the phone. The service will facilitate group calling on a
nationwide basis for up to five people. 

Hallock says Sprint has great expectations for Ready Link and believes the
service will attract both businesses and consumers. The company hopes to draw
enterprise subscribers away from Nextel with its simple pricing, nationwide
coverage and its ability to bundle the Ready Link solution with the company's
PCS Vision CDMA 1XRTT data service. 

Of course, the fact that Ready Link's launch comes just one week before the
wireless local number portability mandate takes effect is no coincidence.
Hallock says that timing was an important consideration and he expects Nextel
customers who have the opportunity to switch will see Ready Link as a great
addition to Sprint's portfolio of services.

http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=document&doc_id=128543&verticalID=34&vertical=Business+and+Finance&industry=

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