Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

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Nextel tests Qualcomm push-to-talk technology

ATLANTA (Reuters) — Nextel Communications said Monday it was testing new phones with "walkie-talkie" type service based on Qualcomm Inc. technology that could connect U.S. subscribers with foreign cellular customers.
The move by Nextel, the fifth-largest U.S. cellular company, comes as its lucrative niche in so-called "push-to-talk" services has come under threat from larger cellular operators, such as Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc venture Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. .

Thanks to push-to-talk, Nextel customers spend an average of $70 a month, compared with the industry average of about $50 per month.

Nextel executives at the CTIA Wireless trade show here contend the new services from competitors are technically inferior to Nextel's, with unacceptable lag times during calls. But Nextel will have to upgrade its own network technology in the near future to handle high-speed Internet and other data services that are expected to grow sharply over the next several years.

The Qualcomm system, known as QChat, uses Qualcomm's Code Division Multiple Access technology and network equipment that Lucent Technologies Inc. will put on sale later this year. CDMA is the preferred cellular standard in the United States and Asia, and Nextel said it would make QChat compatible with its U.S. network, which is based on technology from Motorola Inc. .

Lucent executives said on Monday that Nextel has an exclusive right to the QChat system it is testing for an unspecified period of time. Nextel did not say when it might introduce a phone featuring QChat technology.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2004-03-22-push-to-talk_x.htm