Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel Crosses Borders with Direct Connect

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 17:03:26 -0400

Nextel Crosses Borders with Direct Connect

 By Jay Wrolstad
Wireless NewsFactor
May 5, 2004 11:58AM 

In its present iteration, push-to-talk primarily targets businesses 
that want rapid, one-to-one communications capability between office 
staff and those working in the field. With some 13 million Direct 
Connect customers on its iDEN network, Nextel is comfortably in 
front of rivals Verizon and Sprint.  

Nextel  is pushing the envelope with its push-to-talk service, 
expanding walkie-talkie communications across international borders 
through partnerships with wireless operators in South America and 
Canada. 

At the push of a button, Nextel customers now can connect with Telus 
Mobility subscribers in Canada and those belonging to NII Holdings 
in Brazil, Argentina and Peru, the company announced on Tuesday. 

By the end of the year, Nextel says, NII clients will be able to 
connect to Telus customers. Nextel and NII Holdings also plan to 
launch an international push-to-talk service in Mexico this summer. 

Range Extends to 7,000 Miles 

"Taking the Direct Connect service beyond international borders 
represents a wireless-industry milestone," said Nextel spokesperson 
Aaron Radelet. "We are the first cellular provider to offer push-to-
talk with a range of 7,000 miles." 

The interoperability agreements will appeal particularly to Nextel's 
cross-border business customers, Radelet told NewsFactor, citing 
clients in the transportation, financial-services and manufacturing 
sectors. Nextel also hopes to draw Spanish-speaking customers with 
ties to Latin America. 

Subscribers traveling in the affected countries also can receive 
basic data services, such as BlackBerry  and mobile e-mail, two-way 
messaging and wireless-Web access. 

Interoperability Agreements 

A Nextel subscriber working in Peru, for example, can conduct a 
walkie-talkie conversation with a Nextel subscriber visiting an 
office in Argentina. Or, a U.S. subscriber can send and receive 
messages on a Nextel BlackBerry while visiting Canada, Radelet 
explained. 

Likewise, NII users can send and receive push-to-talk calls with NII 
or Nextel subscribers within the NII footprint. Telus subscribers 
now have push-to-talk and data services connections with Telus or 
Nextel subscribers in either of the companies' coverage areas. 

Currently, NII does not offer interoperability with Nextel for data 
coverage, said Radelet, although a Nextel U.S. subscriber in Brazil 
can send data to another Nextel customer. 

Nationwide Service Proves Popular 

With some 13 million Direct Connect customers on its iDEN network, 
Nextel is comfortably in front of rivals Verizon Wireless and Sprint 
PCS , which also are rolling out walkie-talkie capability but have 
only about 500,000 users. 

In its present iteration, push-to-talk primarily targets businesses 
that want rapid, one-to-one communications capability between office 
staff and those working in the field. 

Given its success in the U.S., taking Direct Connect across 
international borders could prove lucrative for Nextel, said Lewis 
Ward, senior analyst in wireless and mobile communications at IDC. 
In the first six months after Nextel went nationwide with Direct 
Connect last June, 42 percent of its customers signed up for the 
service, he told NewsFactor. Access to international connections 
could draw a portion of that sizeable user base, he suggested. 

But push-to-talk has suffered from quality-of-service issues, with 
latency a particular nuisance, said Ward. Nextel claims it can make 
the international connections in under a second, though. 

"Interoperability is less important with push-to-talk than it is 
with SMS  or IM," IDC analyst Keith Waryas told NewsFactor. Push-to-
talk will have trouble gaining traction until more handsets with the 
technology are made available, he noted. 

Radelet said Nextel has no immediate plans to extend Direct Connect 
to Europe or Asia

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Nextel_Crosses_Borders_with_Direct_Connect&story_id=23938&category=wlsnetw

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