AT&T fires a PTT shot across Sprint's bow

[WiWavelength]

AT&T is making it known that it is going to try to capitalize on Sprint's iDEN shutdown over the next year.

 

At a time when other carriers are phasing out PTT networks, AT&T’s goal is to provide customers with the type of communication service they need for instant group communications, backed by 4G technology and a broad portfolio of devices and business applications.

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=22974&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=34695&mapcode=consumer|enterprise

AJ

[pyroscott]

Ain't that some crap. They aren't demoing it out in Minnesota. I really wanted to see this cutting edge technology. You mean I can use my phone like a walkie talkie? Can I also do morse code over the walkie talkie like the ones I had when I was a kid. Just a shameless attempt to lure part of Sprint's customer base to the evil empire.

[S4GRU]

AT&T is making it known that it is going to try to capitalize on Sprint's iDEN shutdown over the next year.

 

 

 

http://www.att.com/g...umer|enterprise

 

AJ

 

If Sprint's plans were to keep PTT service and capitalize on the market, then they have really blown it. If their plan was just to let it fade into oblivion and allow their customers to get pilfered by the competition, then they are doing a fantastic job.

 

Robert

[4GHoward]

Does Verizon and T-Mobile provides PTT?

[digiblur]

AT&T have been eating Nextels customers for quite a while here especially with the shrunk size of the new cdma network here compared to iden.

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

[pyroscott]

Does Verizon and T-Mobile provides PTT?

 

Verizon does, but it is aimed at business customers

http://business.verizonwireless.com/content/b2b/en/wireless-products-services/push_to_talk.html

 

I don't think T-Mobile offers it.

[4GHoward]

AT&T have been eating Nextels customers for quite a while here especially with the shrunk size of the new cdma network here compared to iden.

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

At least Sprint started offering Roaming for their PTT Direct Connect Service.

 

http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=2312

[bgguy]

Compared to Q-Chat and the Hybrid phones the new form of SDC is better. With the new 1X roaming options it makes it a great option for those that still need walkie talkie. I've talked to people who are just as satisfied with an Android device and using something like Tikl to make do. From what I read Kodiak Networks is only able to do it over 3G, 4G and wifi. So no edge coverage with it.

[pyroscott]

Compared to Q-Chat and the Hybrid phones the new form of SDC is better. With the new 1X roaming options it makes it a great option for those that still need walkie talkie. I've talked to people who are just as satisfied with an Android device and using something like Tikl to make do. From what I read Kodiak Networks is only able to do it over 3G, 4G and wifi. So no edge coverage with it.

 

I had a q-chat phone and it was a battery killer when you were in a 1x only area. I had to call and get it disabled because I had spotty 3G coverage at the time.

[tybo31316]

The company that I work for just switched all of our Nextel devices and black berries over to att. They gave us some Samsung rugby 2 ptt phones. Also they've bought a boat load of iPhones and iPads. Completely leaving sprint. Sprint needs to do a better job retaining important business customers.

[irev210]

AT&T has been the most aggressive. Verizon only has one PTT handset.

 

 

 

I think the 1x PTT is going to be hard to beat in terms of coverage.

 

People might be drawn to AT&T and Verizon for other reasons.

 

Sprint has 3.8 million postpaid iDEN subscribers, with about 2/3rds of them being corporate. Average ARPU is only ~$41 vs. $62.50 on CDMA. What's interesting is that even though iDEN is shutting down churn is only around 2% at the start of 2012.

 

There are about 1.6 million prepaid iDEN customers with ARPU of about $35.70 but prepaid iDEN churn is really high at almost 9%. Basically, prepaid iDEN isn't worth looking at. ARPU isn't high enough to get concerned about.

 

Figure they will capture between 30% and 50% - this number is VERY important for sprint. This is what people will be looking at.

 

When the big corporate accounts start to leave, it could get very ugly and capture rate could be very low. I think this is the biggest thing people really have no idea how to estimate. With 1x roaming, I think the SDC solution is likely the best for PTT... but I feel like when these customers go through the RFP process, they will get caught up with 4G coverage/speeds, not really the core functionality of PTT.

 

 

One thing that is very interesting is the ARPU of iDEN customers... it's very low. Any way you slice it, these businesses are going to have to spend a lot more moving forward. It's probably one of the major reasons they are still on iDEN. Sprint needs these customers to convert to CDMA and pay more $$$. It's huge if they can pull it off.

[4GHoward]

The City of Houston lost AT&T after having a contract with them for over 30 years, and they are now with Sprint.

 

http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=2048

[iansltx]

AT&T has been the most aggressive. Verizon only has one PTT handset.

 

 

 

I think the 1x PTT is going to be hard to beat in terms of coverage.

 

People might be drawn to AT&T and Verizon for other reasons.

 

Sprint has 3.8 million postpaid iDEN subscribers, with about 2/3rds of them being corporate. Average ARPU is only ~$41 vs. $62.50 on CDMA. What's interesting is that even though iDEN is shutting down churn is only around 2% at the start of 2012.

 

There are about 1.6 million prepaid iDEN customers with ARPU of about $35.70 but prepaid iDEN churn is really high at almost 9%. Basically, prepaid iDEN isn't worth looking at. ARPU isn't high enough to get concerned about.

 

Figure they will capture between 30% and 50% - this number is VERY important for sprint. This is what people will be looking at.

 

When the big corporate accounts start to leave, it could get very ugly and capture rate could be very low. I think this is the biggest thing people really have no idea how to estimate. With 1x roaming, I think the SDC solution is likely the best for PTT... but I feel like when these customers go through the RFP process, they will get caught up with 4G coverage/speeds, not really the core functionality of PTT.

 

 

One thing that is very interesting is the ARPU of iDEN customers... it's very low. Any way you slice it, these businesses are going to have to spend a lot more moving forward. It's probably one of the major reasons they are still on iDEN. Sprint needs these customers to convert to CDMA and pay more $$$. It's huge if they can pull it off.

 

My guess is that ARPU is low because corporate clients are giving their employees a Nextel phone for PTT, plus a BlackBerry or other smartphone on another wireless carrier for everything else. Nextel PTT-only plans are cheap.

 

If Sprint takes PTT over CDMA and promotes the heck out of it, combined with 4G, they may not only be able to keep iDEN customers, but also transition them to smartphones, saving money for the company (one line, not two, to pay for) and increasing ARPU for themselves (though, of this ARPU, only $5 per month will be due to PTT, a radical departure from Nextel days).

 

As for PTT lineups, now that Sprint has stopped selling iDEN phones they're comparable to Verizon, with four PTT-capable handsets, one of which is a smartphone. AT&T will probably end up with more PTT-compatible phones in the short term, though I'd be surprised if they had sub-second call setup times like iDEN/SDC over non-1x.

[irev210]

My guess is that ARPU is low because corporate clients are giving their employees a Nextel phone for PTT, plus a BlackBerry or other smartphone on another wireless carrier for everything else. Nextel PTT-only plans are cheap.

 

If Sprint takes PTT over CDMA and promotes the heck out of it, combined with 4G, they may not only be able to keep iDEN customers, but also transition them to smartphones, saving money for the company (one line, not two, to pay for) and increasing ARPU for themselves (though, of this ARPU, only $5 per month will be due to PTT, a radical departure from Nextel days).

 

As for PTT lineups, now that Sprint has stopped selling iDEN phones they're comparable to Verizon, with four PTT-capable handsets, one of which is a smartphone. AT&T will probably end up with more PTT-compatible phones in the short term, though I'd be surprised if they had sub-second call setup times like iDEN/SDC over non-1x.

 

 

Nextel plans are cheap because there is no legitimate data services - hard to charge people more for less.

 

I still think that it isn't all about the PTT performance - more about a bundle of services (like above poster who's business got iPADS, iPhones, and a few PTT devices) and the marketing around 4G.

 

We'll see what happens... should be interesting.

[Deval]

I saw the new Sprint Direct Commercial during the Yankee game yesterday, and I was very impressed. It spoke to the traditional Nextel users, specifically.

 

http://shop.sprint.com/mysprint/services_solutions/category.jsp?catId=solution_sdc&catName=Sprint%20Direct%20Connect&ECID=vanity:sprintdirectconnect/

 

The way I see it, SDC will be part of the overall Sprint package, and in the conversations I've had with customers, they have been impressed, especially with the Moto Admiral.

[ChadBroChillz]

I feel like ATT can gain in the short term, but I believe sprint has a more solid plan in the long term. Roaming and the ability to work over 1X is huge, especially with their plans of adding 1Xadvanced to their 800mhz. Having an android app for the ability to turn non PTT smartphones into PTT enable device is huge if it works as well as SDC phones. With most things sprint is doing in Network Vision, The plan sounds amazing, but they have to implement it. The icing on the cake would be if they could get the app on the iphone or windows phone.

 

 

I do not know how many customers on nextel still use ptt, but sprint last quarter had around 50% of the nextel subscribers who left moving over to CDMA, and I believe that number will continue to climb with the news of Roaming/1X, 4GLTE cities getting announced, and 1x 800 gets turned on.

[pyroscott]

I feel like ATT can gain in the short term, but I believe sprint has a more solid plan in the long term. Roaming and the ability to work over 1X is huge, especially with their plans of adding 1Xadvanced to their 800mhz. Having an android app for the ability to turn non PTT smartphones into PTT enable device is huge if it works as well as SDC phones. With most things sprint is doing in Network Vision, The plan sounds amazing, but they have to implement it. The icing on the cake would be if they could get the app on the iphone or windows phone.

 

 

I do not know how many customers on nextel still use ptt, but sprint last quarter had around 50% of the nextel subscribers who left moving over to CDMA, and I believe that number will continue to climb with the news of Roaming/1X, 4GLTE cities getting announced, and 1x 800 gets turned on.

 

You hit that one on the head. Sprint will have the best offering of PTT. Now they need to continue to get phones like the admiral and the flip phones that have a dedicated button and are ultra rugged.

[irev210]

 

I do not know how many customers on nextel still use ptt, but sprint last quarter had around 50% of the nextel subscribers who left moving over to CDMA, and I believe that number will continue to climb with the news of Roaming/1X, 4GLTE cities getting announced, and 1x 800 gets turned on.

 

It was about 45%. But it's pretty irrelevant. As I mentioned above, postpaid churn for Q1 2012 was only 2%.

 

Basically, nobody is leaving nextel yet.

 

This number will jump around dramatically once corporate customers start deciding on what to do. It will get more interesting towards the first quarter of 2013.

 

I figure it's going to be in the 30-50% range for Sprint recapturing... but it's just too darn hard to tell.

[Deval]

I get curious at the button phenomena. How many people still actively use it, vs those who are used to it.

[pyroscott]

I get curious at the button phenomena. How many people still actively use it, vs those who are used to it.

 

Well, a lot of the PTT marketing has been aimed at the construction industry. For those guys, if you are wearing gloves, you probably wouldn't be able to register any touchscreen presses. A physical button makes sense in that sense. Also, I think if it starts disappearing from the physical makeup of the phone, people will use it less and it will fade into obscurity.

[Fraydog]

I'd rather see AT&T fill in remaining EDGE with HSPA+, modernize the rest of their core, accelerate on LTE, and acquire enough spectrum to deploy LTE over their footprint by 2014, but what do I know?

[S4GRU]

I'd rather see AT&T fill in remaining EDGE with HSPA+' date=' modernize the rest of their core, accelerate on LTE, and acquire enough spectrum to deploy LTE over their footprint by 2014, but what do I know?[/quote']

 

Of course you would require AT&T to focus on LTE deployment. Your previous avatar demands it. It is holding you against your will forcing you to type that.

 

Man oh man do I need my first morning cup of coffee. Good morning!

 

Robert via Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

[Fraydog]

Wait, I thought my avatar was changed?

[Deval]

Well, a lot of the PTT marketing has been aimed at the construction industry. For those guys, if you are wearing gloves, you probably wouldn't be able to register any touchscreen presses. A physical button makes sense in that sense. Also, I think if it starts disappearing from the physical makeup of the phone, people will use it less and it will fade into obscurity.

 

I was thinking more along the lines of how much actual usage.

[iansltx]

Re: the button, the point of PTT is its immediacy, seems to me. If you have to wade through menus to get to PTT, it's much less likely to be used/be efficient when used. Particularly since you have to hold /something/ down (touch-screen button or hardware button) to grab the channel for your lovely half-duplex conversation.

 

As for actual usage, I guarantee that the segments who still have Nextel phones still use them a lot. If everyone has PTT handsets in the company and you need to request something quickly/give a quick status update, it's way quicker than trying to type out a text message or waiting for a call to be answered.

 

In my industry there's no need for PTT. For the home repair stuff my dad does, it might be nice, though not nice enough to get him to switch to a contract plan from his beat up old Nokia 2126i on Tracfone (which will probably last him another four years!).