Cingular to launch PTT in October

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. next month is expected to launch a push-to-talk service that will compete against similar offerings from Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and a number of regional operators. Cingular Chief Operating Officer Ralph de la Vega told reporters at an investor conference this week that the carrier planned to launch a PTT service this year. A Cingular spokesman confirmed de la Vega’s comments, adding the launch probably would be early in the fourth quarter. Online reports indicate the service will launch in mid-October with Cingular-labeled collateral showing a Samsung handset. The scanned material also showed that Cingular plans to charge $10 per month for unlimited PTT use on top of its Nation plans, or $20 per month for FamilyTalk plans. Cingular has a PTT login page on its Web site that has a link allowing users to manage their address books. Analysts previously had reported that the PTT service will use Kodiak Networks’ circuit-switched Real Time Exchange platform, which relies on traditional voice channels to route calls instead of data channels as used by Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel’s ReadyLink service.