Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel and Motorola On Schedule to Provide Nationwide Direct Connect

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 09:21:46 -0500

Nextel and Motorola On Schedule to Provide Nationwide Direct Connect

March 10, 2003 10:35am

RESTON, Va. & PLANTATION, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 2003-- Unmatched network
innovation,
10 years of experience secure leadership for pioneers of push-to-talk technology as
coast-to-coast service
goes live

Nextel Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTL)
and Motorola (NYSE:MOT) today provided an
update on the completion of Phase One of
Nationwide Direct Connect™, the
much-anticipated successor to Nextel's
flagship service, Direct Connect™--the only
long-range digital walkie-talkie of its kind with
coast-to-coast service.

With all Nextel markets currently enabled for
the first phase of the nationwide service, and a
number of markets--specifically New England
and Southern California--already primed for
coast-to-coast connections, Nextel will easily
meet its plan to make Nationwide Direct
Connect available everywhere in the third
quarter 2003.

The first phase of Nationwide Direct Connect,
initially announced in January of 2003, allows Nextel users to travel with the Direct
Connect service and
instantly connect with anyone local to the area to which they have traveled, as well as
with any other
Nextel customers who have traveled with them.

The second and final phase of Nationwide Direct Connect will allow all Nextel customers to
connect with
one another anywhere on Nextel's national network--including to and from
Hawaii--regardless of the call
sender's or receiver's location. Both phases have been extensively tested and are
currently in the final stage
of standard quality assurance assessments.

"For more than a decade, Nextel has led the wireless industry in delivering a service that
makes
communication immediate and efficient for business users," said Barry West, executive vice
president and
chief technology officer at Nextel. "This has been a significant undertaking for our
engineering teams and it
demonstrates particular achievement in network advancement. The investment, dedication and
development
exhibited by Nextel and Motorola are the greatest success indicators for the Nationwide
Direct Connect
service and promise an incomparable experience for Nextel customers."

"The partnership between Motorola and Nextel to drive leading edge wireless solutions such
as Nationwide
Direct Connect will enable customers to connect with home and office through multiple
communication
capabilities nationwide with great success," said Dan Coombes, Motorola's senior vice
president and
general manager iDEN/WLAN, chief technology officer of GTSS. "The ability to create and
perfect the iDEN
technology required to deliver a service as valuable and reliable as Nationwide Direct
Connect is a
testament to the vision and innovation of two companies working together to bring new
meaning to instant
communication."

Nextel Communications boasts the largest voice-over-IP packet data network in the world,
which makes it
possible to deliver services such as Direct Connect at a fraction of the cost of a
traditional cellular call.
Nextel's 2.5G Packet Data network handles billions of simultaneous packets of data each
month and is not
an overlay, but rather an integrated extension, of the original iDEN network.

Built from the ground up, the iDEN network is scalable to allow efficient expansion for
services such as
Nationwide Direct Connect, while providing an identical end-user experience to the
original service.

Facts about Nextel Direct Connect®

-- Direct Connect accomplishes call set up in less than one second.

-- More than 150 million Direct Connect calls are made daily.

-- More than 62 billion Direct Connect calls were made in 2002; up from 50 billion in
2001.

-- Average Direct Connect call is 40 seconds, compared with almost 2 minutes for the
average cellular call.

-- In December 2002, Direct Connect calls made up 68.5% of the total calls on the network.

-- More than 94% of Nextel customers use Direct Connect.

-- Every Motorola iDEN phone that works on Nextel's network comes equipped with the Direct
Connect
functionality.

-- Direct Connect is highly cost effective for customers. Most of Nextel's rate plans
include unlimited Direct
Connect, making it a cost effective communication tool at a fraction of the cost of
cellular.

About Nextel

Nextel Communications, a Fortune 300 company based in Reston, Va., is a leading provider
of fully
integrated wireless communications services and has built the largest guaranteed
all-digital wireless
network in the country covering thousands of communities across the United States.

Nextel and Nextel Partners, Inc., currently serve 197 of the top 200 U.S. markets. Through
recent market
launches, Nextel and Nextel Partners service is available today in areas of the U.S. where
approximately
240 million people live or work.

About Motorola and iDEN

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated communications and
embedded
electronic solutions. Sales in 2001 were $30 billion.

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