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  1. #1
    Cell Academician
    Guest
    [email protected] (Todd Allcock) wrote in article
    <[email protected]>:

    > I'm not saying PTT doesn't have it's uses, just that the market for it is small,
    > and no carrier will go out-of-business just because they don't offer it.


    The market is small if they charge an extra fee rather
    than just charging air time. Once it is included in all
    calling plans, it may be a way of getting people to use
    more airtime and sign up for more expensive plans.
    The problem with this is that there are so many Mobile
    to Mobile plans, and family plans with free MTM, that
    charging by airtime isn't going to generate much
    revenue.

    Clearly few people are going to pay extra for high
    latency PTT, but that's all you're going to get outside
    of iDEN.

    The appeal of PTT to certain entities is the ability to
    broadcat to a bunch of people at once without calling
    each one individually. I guess I could think of scenarios
    where a family might use this, i.e. everyone's somewhere
    different in a mall or amusement park and you want to
    get everyone together without calling each person. But
    again, it's tough to see individuals paying an extra
    monthly fee for this.

    My wife has a Nextel phone from work, her company
    made everyone take one. But no one will use PTT as
    it is inappropriate to be broadcasting confidential medical
    information through a speakerphone, plus it's very
    annoying to be in an appointment and suddenly get
    interrupted by a blast from the speakerphone. Also,
    Nextel doesn't work at all in a lot of the areas that
    her people visit, so they have to use the patient's
    landline. Don't know who the braniac at her company
    was that signed up for this deal!

    A regular cell phone with speed dial or voice dial is
    more than sufficient for most people, and much less
    obnoxious.

    I expect that within a couple of years every carrier will
    have some sort of PTT, and it will be a checkbox item
    just as free nights and weekends is now.

    Steve
    --
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    [posted via phonescoop.com - free web access to the alt.cellular groups]



    See More: Push to talk anytime soon?




  2. #2
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: Push to talk anytime soon?

    [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

    In <[email protected]> on 3 Sep 2003 21:31:03
    -0700, [email protected] (Todd Allcock) wrote:

    >John Navas <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    >
    >> I disagree on both counts, and it looks like carriers do as well.

    >
    >Maybe, but it seems to me than nobody gave a small rodent's
    >hindquarters about PTT until Verizon got into the game.
    >Where was all of this urgency five years ago? Everyone
    >knew it was a niche product and it was easier and cheaper
    >to let Nextel have it and offer a buddy/family plan for the
    >guys like you who were "thinking outside the box" and
    >imagining PTT scenarios for the family.


    "PTT Revenue: To Be Or Not To Be"
    <http://wirelessweek.com/index.asp?la...cleId=CA314144>

    ...

    Nextel has stuck with the business market for nearly 11 years,
    racking up 12 million customers, until recently when it cut a deal
    with Boost Mobile, which markets Nextel's service to the youth
    market. From November through the first quarter, Boost attracted
    60,000 customers in select Nevada and California markets.

    Because push to talk hasn't yet significantly entered the consumer
    market, some say that's where operators will focus initially. "I
    assume the first market they'll go after is the untapped market,
    which is youth," says Peter Adderton, CEO of Boost Mobile.

    Push to talk requires a community of users for it to work. Tardelli
    says it could become very popular with consumer markets. "I think it
    starts off virally and becomes a business service similar to IM," he
    says. Instant message service on computers began as an attractive
    consumer offering, but as it grew in popularity business users
    recognized the value. Tardelli expects to see a similar evolution
    with push to talk.

    ...

    Regardless of which market operators chase, the numbers show exactly
    why they're excited about push to talk. It accounts for 25 percent of
    Boost's ARPU, Adderton says. While he wouldn't give an exact figure,
    Adderton says the number of Boost customers using PTT is closer to 90
    percent than 70 percent.

    [MORE]

    --
    Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
    John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>



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