Subject: [NEXTEL-1] P2T vendors focus on consumers

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 10:22:48 -0500

P2T vendors focus on consumers
March 23, 2004 6:20pm
Mobile Radio Technology

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Recent push-to-talk handset additions by Kyocera and Motorola indicate
that vendors are beginning to expand their focus beyond the
business/enterprise sector that spawned the service to a more
consumer-oriented approach.

Last month, Motorola unveiled three P2T handsets, one based on the GSM
platform and two that are CDMA-based. The V400p is a quad-band GSM
handset that offers one-touch push-to-talk capability and an integrated
speakerphone. It also offers consumer-oriented features such as a
digital camera, downloading capability and MP3 ringtones. The T300p and
V65p also offer a dedicated push-to-talk button and integrated
speakerphone. While the T300p was created for rugged conditions, the
V65p is designed for “elegant” situations with a sleek metal housing.

In January, Kyocera announced the 3250, the company's first handset to
include one-touch walkie-talkie functionality. It is the only P2T
handset offered by Alltel, which began offering P2T service in January.
The 3250 supports Kodiak's Real-Time
Exchange platform, which Alltel is using as its P2T platform, as well as
voice-over-Internet protocol platforms such as Togabi

Technology's PacketCHAT and Qualcomm's BREWChat.

Motorola wants to provide P2T handsets to carriers that want to hit
different niche markets, according to Steve Bahlmann, global product
director.

“The initial focus for a lot of carriers has been on the enterprise
play, but the positive aspect is that the consumer market is opening up
quite drastically,” he said. “I think most carriers believe the consumer
play is going to do nothing but grow.”
Bahlmann added that providing push-to-talk services over CDMA and GSM
platforms makes perfect sense, given the company's heritage. “Basically,
Motorola was the inventor of cellular technology and walkie-talkies …
push-to-talk over cellular is the next logical extension of that.”

Brett Kayzar, staff product manager for Kyocera, described the consumer
market as having “huge untapped potential.” Kaczor believes P2T services
can become a “lifestyles” play for both vendors and carriers,
particularly after handset prices decrease. That should occur as market
demands increase, resulting in economies of scale for vendors and
competitive pricing from carriers.

“Push to talk is a simple way to connect, particularly for families,” he
said. “If it becomes value priced, parents will be able to afford
getting it into the hands of their children.”

Despite the bullishness of Motorola and Kyocera on consumers, the
message hasn't been absorbed by the patriarch of the space, Nextel,
which still sees push to talk as primarily an enterprise play, according
to Rebecca Gertsmark, a spokeswoman for the company. “Our focus is not
on the consumer,” she said.

If anything, Nextel is focusing on the public-safety sector, a growing
segment that now accounts for 20% of the carrier's new business. Nextel
is positioning its P2T service as an adjunct, not replacement service.
The advantages to public safety are the interoperability provided by the
nationwide Direct Connect offering and the platform's compatibility with
Motorola's iDEN infrastructure, which lets dispatchers off-load
non-essential voice traffic.

“They see the service as a natural fit. In terms of ease of use and the
way the service works, they get it,” said Beverly Hodges, Nextel's
senior director of voice services. “They understand that
interoperability is the key and very necessary.”

In January, Nextel introduced the Motorola i305, which was billed as the
first all-weather phone with Direct Connect functionality. Resistant to
extreme temperatures, dust, shock, water and vibration, the handset is
targeted to outdoor enthusiasts as well as public-safety and industrial
users. But Hodges concedes there's more work to be done.

“There are some feature sets and functionality that do exist on [public
safety] land mobile radios, and some of our radios will need to be
developed [further] to get to that spec level,” Hodges said. “Some of
their radios survive fires.”

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