Motorola has signed an agreement with Jordan mobile network operator Fastlink to be the first in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region to pilot Motorola’s General Radio Packet Service (GPRS) Push-To-Talk (PTT) solution. Point-to-point PTT calls to individuals and PTT group calls have been demonstrated successfully at Fastlink’s facility in Amman.
According to Motorola, the company has GPRS PTT trials and demonstrations with other wireless network operators in EMEA scheduled throughout the remainder of this year. Commercial launch of Motorola’s GPRS PTT solution is targeted for 2004. [infoSync]
I find it very interesting that this is being tested first outside the US … far away from Nextel.
Actually here’s some more detail as reported by CNet:
On Thursday, Motorola announced that Jordanian carrier Fastlink will be the first company in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region to use push-to-talk (PTT) technology. Fastlink plans to introduce a pilot version of a service similar to Nextel’s popular DirectConnect, which creates an instant connection between two cell phones.
In addition, Nextel Mexico, owned by Nextel subsidiary NII Holdings, plans to launch soon its own DirectConnect-like service in Tijuana and in Baja California, Mexico, a source said. [CNET News.com]
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