[TrunkCom] Sprint Mulls Walkie-Talkie Style Service Challenge

[Marcel]

Sprint Mulls Walkie-Talkie Style Service Challenge

Mon Mar 18, 2:11 PM ET

By Jeremy Pelofsky

ORLANDO -Sprint PCS Group is considering rolling out its own
walkie-talkie style of mobile telephone service, President Charles
Levine said on Monday, in what could be a challenge to the dominant
provider of the service, Nextel Communications .

Noting there were 7 million to 8 million Nextel customers, Sprint PCS
President Levine said that Sprint will have the capability to roll out
its own similar "push-to-talk" service when it launches its so-called
third generation (3G) high-speed mobile service.
"It is something we have the capability of rolling out as long as we
have 3G and we're seriously looking at it," he said at a press
conference on the sidelines of the annual Cellular Telecommunications
and Internet Association show.

"There's at least that much demand out there and so there is certainly
the possibility that, if we went into that market, of capturing some or
all of that or even potentially expanding that market some," he
said.Nextel is the No. 5 U.S. mobile telephone carrier, behind No. 4
Sprint. The wireless industry has been hurting of late due to the weak
economy, stiff competition, and market saturation with almost half the
U.S. population subscribing to a service.

In recent weeks, Nextel shares have been hit hard due in part to
speculation that Nextel might have to restructure its debt, but the
company has said it had about $5 billion in liquidity, more than enough
to carry out its business plan.

Sprint plans to roll out nationwide an advanced wireless network this
summer that promises high-speed, always-on Internet access at speeds of
up to 144 kilobits per second. Average speeds will be about 60-70
kilobits per second and ramping up over time.
Levine declined to say how many of the targeted 3 million new
subscribers the company hopes to sign up this year will also subscribe
to the 3G service, but he said the bigger sign-up would likely be next
year.

"Our forecast is pretty conservative on that, we're expecting the bigger
take-up next year," he said, adding that the service could add
efficiencies to people who spend a lot of time on the road, like
insurance adjusters.
"It's going to take people a while to really understand what it can do
for them," he said. Sprint plans to hold a conference in Las Vegas next
month to discuss the service with potential big clients.

"In the business market, we're already beginning to talk to them about
that, so we'll get some up-take this year, but some of that's going to
be people testing and finding out how much productivity really does
increase, how much money they really save," Levine said.

In mid-afternoon trading, Sprint PCS shares were up 22 cents to $10.64
on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites) while Nextel shares
were also up 12 cents to $6.30 on Nasdaq.

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