Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Walkie-talkie phones will be multiplying

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 03:12:51 -0400

Walkie-talkie phones will be multiplying

BY HEATHER NEWMAN
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
September 4, 2003

For 11 years, Nextel Communications has had a lock on the patents and the
profits from push-to-talk, the technology that turns wireless phones into
walkie-talkies capable of spanning the country with short transmissions.

Now other companies are entering the market, and by early next year,
Nextel's monopoly will give way to a free-for-all. Verizon Wireless'
push-to-talk service launched Aug. 18; Sprint and AT&T Wireless have plans
in the works, with Sprint aiming for the end of the year and AT&T looking at
early 2004.

For consumers and businesses, the competition brings new opportunities to
try what many people think is a handy enhancement to traditional cell phone
service.

The most enthusiastic adopters of Nextel's services so far have been small
businesses with roaming employees, such as delivery or tradespeople. With a
push-to-talk phone, they can all speak to each other literally at the press
of a button, without having to make lots of separate phone calls.

Many families, too, have found PTT useful. The kids can go one way at the
mall while Mom and Dad go the other, and everybody is just one click away.

So what does PTT add to wireless service, and which company offers the best
choice?

I tested a Motorola v60p flip phone, the only model that Verizon currently
offers with its push-to-talk service, with two other reporters from Knight
Ridder newspapers: Les Suzukamo from the St. Paul, Minn., Pioneer Press and
Mike Langberg from the San Jose, Calif., Mercury News. Suzukamo and I also
tested the Motorola i90c flip phone from Nextel.

To start a push-to-talk call on either company's service, you enter a number
manually or look one up in your directory and push a special button on the
side of the phone.

The call connects to the other party, and you can start talking immediately.
When you let go, the phone beeps to tell the other persons they can talk.
When they press their button, you're no longer able to talk until they're
finished.

Both services offer the ability to create groups, using the companies' Web
sites. You type in the numbers you want in the group, and from then on, you
can select the group just as you would an individual from your address book.

Verizon's system even continuously shows you which members of a group (or
other individuals in your directory) have their phones turned on.

When you push to talk to the group, your voice comes out of everyone's phone
at the same time, and they can all talk with each other as well. It's like a
party line where everyone has to be polite and allow the person in front of
them to finish before they begin talking.

Both Nextel and Verizon offer one-on-one push-to-talk nationally, at least
where they have enhanced digital networks. That area extends over much of
southern Michigan for both companies. Verizon's group push-to-talk is fully
national; Nextel's is currently regional, so all members of a group must be
in the same general part of the country.

With Verizon, your push-to-talk number is the same as your wireless phone
number. It's convenient from the perspective of the person calling, because
you have to remember only one number for someone you want to dial.

But it's a little disconcerting to realize that anyone who knows your
wireless number and knows you're a Verizon subscriber could potentially
start talking out of your phone. Nextel has two numbers for every
subscriber: one for voice and one for push-to-talk.

Probably the biggest difference between the services was the lag time from
when the button was depressed to when you could start talking (or hear
someone else talk). With Verizon, it was fairly reliably around a second and
a half. Nextel was consistently less than a second, sometimes as little as
half a second.

It doesn't sound like a big gap, but it made a big difference when trying to
carry on a reasonably normal conversation.

Many times I attempted to leap into a group conversation with Suzukamo and
Langberg, only to find that someone else was still talking, my phone unable
to transmit, my mouth snapping shut again until it was my turn. I frequently
found myself thinking of the old Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle children's books, where
interrupters found themselves magically made silent, their mouths snapping
open and shut like a pocketbook, as punishment.

But if you were traveling with people over a number of hours -- in a caravan
on the highway, say, or a trip to an amusement park -- I can see where it
would be convenient to start the call and forget about it, chirping to each
other periodically when the mood struck.

The fact that Nextel has 12 million people already using PTT is a strong
count in its favor. You cannot use push-to-talk with anyone except other
customers of the same phone company.

You might want to give some serious thought to Verizon, if you're looking
for a good combination of PTT and a traditional wireless package. Nextel's
wireless phone service hasn't had either the reach or the reliability of
Verizon's in Michigan.

If what you want is mostly a wireless phone package with some PTT features,
Verizon may get the job done -- providing everyone else you want to
push-to-talk with is a Verizon customer. If what you want is mostly PTT with
some phone service thrown in, Nextel is definitely the way to go -- and much
cheaper.

Verizon's plans start at $59.99 a month for 400 minutes, and the phone costs
$150 with a two-year agreement. Nextel's plans start at $35.99 for 100
push-to-talk and 300 anytime wireless minutes, with its cheapest non-flip
phone priced at $39.99 (the flip we tested was $150 after rebate).

Contact HEATHER NEWMAN at 313-223-3336, [email-masked]

http://www.freep.com/money/tech/phone4_20030904.htm

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