The once hotly contested push-to-talk market appears set for a competitive resurgence as the nation’s two largest CDMA carriers are rolling out new PTT initiatives that should prove more compelling to consumers addicted to “the button” than previous efforts.
Sprint Nextel Corp., which is king of the PTT hill thanks to its legacy Nextel Communications Inc. subscriber base, has slowly begun to roll out CDMA-based PTT phones that are interoperable with the iDEN-based handsets and, according to the carrier, provide similar performance. The move is expected to be countered later this year as Verizon Wireless is also set to roll out a second generation of its PTT service.
Both carriers previously launched CDMA-based PTT services that failed to perform up to the standard set by Nextel’s Direct Connect service and were limited in their ability to sway those high-value customers away from iDEN. Analysts have noted that an increased emphasis on free in-network calling by virtually all carriers has somewhat mitigated the need for operators to pour additional resources into the PTT market.
QChat to the rescue
Sprint Nextel’s newest push began earlier this year when the carrier launched the Sanyo Corp. Pro 200 and Pro 700 handsets. Both devices include Qualcomm Inc.’s QChat technology, a feature that allows the CDMA handsets to “talk” with their iDEN brethren. The new phones are only available in Kansas, Colorado and Cincinnati, but Ajit Bhatia, director of wireless product development for Sprint Nextel, said the carrier plans to make phones available across the nation in coming months.
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The once hotly contested push-to-talk market appears set for a competitive resurgence.
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The new phones take advantage of Sprint Nextel’s CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A network, which is expected to provide a level of service comparable to the iDEN devices. (The carrier’s previous CDMA-based ReadyLink service operated on the carrier’s 1x network and was tagged as not providing service levels comparable to iDEN.) This tactic is part of Sprint Nextel’s plan to merge its iDEN customers onto its CDMA network, though Sprint Nextel has said it will support the iDEN network for several more years.
Data benefits
In addition to being interoperable with iDEN handsets, the new CDMA-based PTT phones will offer access to the carriers slew of data-rich applications. This could help the carrier staunch some of its customer loss as the iDEN handsets were vacant nearly all the applications that the carrier has been pushing.
“We believe the availability of both Nextel Direct Connect and Sprint Mobile Broadband on new devices/form factors will appeal to new customers,” Bhatia said.
Tole Hart, analyst at Gartner, agreed that some phone upgrades and merging the two networks would benefit the carrier.
“Having data services available will give customers more flexibility and better handsets, it will be a more streamlined type of objects and not as bulky of an item,” Hart said.
Competition brewing
Another factor behind Sprint Nextel’s new phones could be the prospect of competition. Verizon Wireless is gearing up to unveil an updated version of its own PTT service that suffered similar performance deficiencies to Sprint Nextel’s ReadyLink service.
Mike Willsey, director of Go-To market programs for Verizon Wireless, said the carrier will come out with its next generation of PTT this summer.
“There will be some new phones,” Willsey said. “We’re just not going public yet about what they will be.”
AT&T Mobility offers a PTT service powered by Kodiak Networks, and although it’s a feature included on most of AT&T Mobility’s smartphones, the carrier does not carry any rugged phones that are desired by the core “button” using groups.
John Kampfe, director of media and industry relations for AT&T Mobility, said although the carrier is looking into providing rugged phones, they are proud of the push-to-talk features its smartphones carry.
As carriers continue to compete for PTT users’ attention, the stakes will continue to rise, but Hart said in spite of Sprint Nextel’s hardships, it will be difficult for other carriers to reach the same PTT success.
“Sprint is the biggest push-to-talk player and Verizon will have a hard time,” Hart said. “Push-to-talks users are part of a group and to move them you’d have to move the whole group. Less than one second connection is what people expect and I think they [Verizon] have to improve their products to be in the ballpark.”
