Arlington Height, Ill. — Cell-site equipment developed by Motorola will let Push-To-Talk (PTT) users chat with other PTT users across any wireless network.
The network-based solution does not require any modification to existing PTT handsets. The company contends that it’s the first to offer such equipment.
As currently developed, the solution will let PTT subscribers on CDMA 1x networks chat with PTT subscribers on GPRS [General Packet Radio Service] networks and users of IEEE 802.11 “WiFi” networks and VoIP [Voice-over-Internet-Protocol] handsets. The solution will also enable PTT connectivity among CDMA networks that have implemented incompatible PTT technologies.
The solution will be compatible in the future with wireless networks based on Enhanced Data Rate for Global Evolution (EDGE), Wideband-CDMA, Wideband-CDMA’s High Speed Packet Downlink Access (HSDPA) and 802.16 “WiMAX” technologies.
It’s “technically feasible” to enhance the solution to ride on iDEN networks, a spokeswoman said, “but no product has been developed for that.” She declined to specify whether such an enhancement is in the company’s roadmap.
The solution is available for technical trials with select customers, Motorola said.
Carriers would implement the technology to make PoC more valuable to subscribers, Motorola said. A carrier, for example, could expand roaming areas in which subscribers could use their PoC service. It is attractive to enterprises with WiFi networks because it expands PoC roaming coverage into their premises, the company added.
“It can be upgraded to enable future ‘push-to’ enhancements and functionality such as Push-To-Video,” added the VP/GM of the Winphoria division of Motorola’s Global Telecom Solutions Sector.
