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Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Telecom Closing down Push 2 Talk Service - 31 July, 2008
SilentOne

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#18932 30-Jan-2008 10:01
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As noted here on their Website.


Push 2 Talk is closing down

Our Push 2 Talk service is provided through an independent Telecom partner. Unfortunately we have been advised that they will no longer be providing the technology, and as a result we will be closing down Push 2 Talk on 31 July, 2008.





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paradoxsm
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  #107516 30-Jan-2008 10:07
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Goodbye readylink!

I'm not at all that suprised with this move, I know of nobody that uses it now but I can see some whom might will be a bit irritated.



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  #107517 30-Jan-2008 10:09
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It's quite facinating to see something that is so popular in the USA fail to take off anywhere else.

steve98
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  #107519 30-Jan-2008 10:21
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sbiddle: It's quite facinating to see something that is so popular in the USA fail to take off anywhere else.


That's because only Americans have no problem with having a private conversation out loud on speakerphone in public. /sweeping generalisation



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  #107520 30-Jan-2008 10:22
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I thought P2T (or PTT in the USA) was a fantastic idea, but the subscription costs were way too high




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nzbullet
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  #107523 30-Jan-2008 10:35
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Not too suprised really considering it never REALLY took off, generally the only people who had it are the ones who got it free at first and forgot to remove it. Also with the new network coming it wouldn't have been compatible.




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  #107537 30-Jan-2008 12:43
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Also, in the US, people have been using the GMRS (General Mobile Radia Service) radio service for years, basically they were a 5watt walkie talkie that had a line of site range of about 5 miles, but this was extended by repeaters in certain parts of the country. They also had about 24 Channels, with 30 channels split within this channel making it somewhat private conversation, if a parent was at a mall with two kids, they could all talk amongst each other, and call up each other, much hte same way you would with PTT. Weather updates etc could be received on these units as well. Since that service was like TXTing to kiwis it really took off when networks in the states intergrated this solution into a mobile phone, meant they could ditch the GMRS handsets and carry their mobiles instead.




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SilentOne

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  #107584 30-Jan-2008 16:57
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Would the bother going for  something along the lines of Qualcoms QChat - which Sprint has the rights to deploy.

Wonder what costs will be and if they will be similar. Also, why bother if QChat uses EV-DO, and Telecom has indicated there's a minimum 5year life on their CMDA network.

mobygeek
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  #107608 30-Jan-2008 19:07
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And I read it right here this morning before the boss knew from Telecom's dealer info source!!!

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  #107632 30-Jan-2008 21:26
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Not suprised. I can't remember the last time I saw or heard someone using it. I got it when I was on Telecom but it was more of a frustration than a convenience when trying to use it so I think we canned it after about three months.

mckenndk
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#107641 30-Jan-2008 21:57
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Was a useless service only ever knew two people using it, at least if you make a call to someone you know they got it.
They stopped using it after a few months anyway.

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#107706 31-Jan-2008 09:59
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Meanwhile, Sprint had more than 90 bllion PTT connections in 2007, and are expanding the number of devices available:


Sprint will also focus on enhancing Nextel Direct Connect in 2008, including aggressively marketing Nextel Direct Connect and expanding features and functionality including combining Direct Connect with Sprint Mobile Broadband data capabilities. These efforts are expected to ultimately deliver robust capabilities such as 'push-to-x' which can include push to instantly send a text message or send an image, push-to-information and other enhanced features in the future.




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old3eyes
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  #107734 31-Jan-2008 11:07
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My niece uses it all the time to talk to her friends.  She say it's far quicker than text..




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  #108522 4-Feb-2008 17:27
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I used P2T service constantly on and off 2 months at a time ever since it came out.

If one can get past the walkie talkie style conversation, it was better than Vodafone bestmate, as it was unlimited calling for $10 per month, and could be used with anyone else with P2T (whereas bestmate was 1 person), and could be used with 5 people at a time. And I did use it for group calls, and it was better than texting by far.

Only downsides were often voice calls went straight to voicemail even when not "on the phone" as P2T was active and doing something which made the line busy. This could be easily seen just watching the screen for long enough at any time. Also battery life was reduced by about half.

I personally am sad to see it go. I currently have 2 P2T phones.

It seems that when they first came out, there was a Hyundai camera phone which came out just prior to it, and all my friends bought one of those instead of a Sanyo 4920. Quite funny because everyone wanted a camera phone, yet those same people only ever take pictures, and never ever send them, even though some are on contracts which give 10 free per month.

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  #108529 4-Feb-2008 17:39
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With the irony not lost with Vodafone having to rush their P2T solution to market to beat Telecom I wonder if Vodafone will soon announce they're shutting their service down? :-)

It's such a shame Vodafone haven't done anything with PoC - all the new Nokia's are complaint with the OMA spec unlike the earlier models that were incompatible when Nokia tried to hijack the standard.

It's probably not hard to see why SMS hasn't taken off in the USA and PoC rules when you have carriers charging you to both send and receive SMS's - this cost has now increased to US 20c to send and receive messages on AT&T. Think of the revenue operators are making when they're getting 40c per message!

paradoxsm
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  #108530 4-Feb-2008 17:45
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I was a big fan of the Quickchat service and used it long after it's official demise (083842428) but as the VSP upgrades had to be done, this legacy system got totally pulled just recently.

Same price as a text and much easier when driving.

Vodafone should market their PoC Push to talk service as a "valueadd for bestmates and the like." now there is a gap left to be filled.

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