MUNICH, Germany-Trouble seems to be simmering in the push-to-talk house as Nokia Corp. has taken a different path from other major vendors and members of the Open Mobile Alliance on how to implement the pre-standard protocol.
Meanwhile, the other PTT vendors, Siemens AG, Motorola Inc., L.M. Ericsson and Sony Ericsson, conducted what they described as the first joint Push-to-Talk over Cellular interoperability test.
“The tests are designed to help provide network operators with easy integration, interoperability and a competitive environment in which to deploy commercial PoC service,” said the companies.
The new stirrings of discord center at the pre-standard level as the full standard likely will not be completed until the end of the year.
This may pose a challenge among consumers for ease of use and common experience. The first technical standard specification for PTT PoC was submitted to the OMA in August, but the other major vendors say they are pushing a final version of the PoC standard.
“We didn’t join the test because we have a slightly different pre-standard implementation for early-market entry,” remarked Lauri Armstrong, spokeswoman for Nokia. “We felt that the implementation of their products didn’t offer operators a credible way forward. So, we implemented a different approach.”
However, Armstrong said Nokia expects to comply with the specifications when they are agreed upon. But there is no guarantee that if the pre-standard implementation generates discord, it will not continue when the final specifications are discussed.
“We are confident that there will be Push-to-Talk over Cellular specifications that we’ll agree on, implement and adhere to, therefore providing interoperability across multiple vendors,” said Armstrong.
On whether Nokia’s pre-standard product will interoperate with those of the other vendors, she said work was in progress and when the standards are reached, the company expects all the systems will work together.
Nokia said its products will be introduced in GSM networks “already in the second quarter of 2004 as a commercial service using pre-standard protocols.”
It said more than 30 operators are undertaking trials, with three public commercial contracts. The vendor said its terminal, the Nokia 5140 will be commercially available during the second quarter. It plans to introduce full range of push-to-talk capable phones, including Symbian OS-based smart phones, adding that from 2005 PTT will be available in GPRS/WCDMA phones.
