Nokia, Samsung agree on push to talk license

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has agreed to license push-to-talk technology from Nokia Corp. in several mobile phones slated for launch in 2004 and 2005, the companies said Monday at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, France.

Numerous mobile phone companies in Europe and Asia plan to launch push-to-talk services this year, following the success of the walkie talkie-type service pioneered by Nextel Communications Inc. in the U.S.

With push-to-talk, customers can use their mobile phones like walkie-talkies to communicate with a selected group or individual with the push of a single button.

Nokia, which has already introduced two push-to-talk enabled mobile phones, plans to include the feature in all of its GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiplex Access) handsets beginning in 2005.

The company expects push-to-talk to be a standard feature of mobile phones similar to text messaging in the near future, said Tapio Heikkilä [cq], director of business development at Nokia’s network division

Under the deal announced in Cannes, Nokia will provide Samsung — a rival handset manufacturer — with its push-to-talk technology as well as interoperability testing.

Nokia’s technology is based on an open specification that will provide a smooth migration path to a push-to-talk standard expected to be approved in August by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) standards body, according to the Espoo, Finland, manufacturer. More than 30 operators from around the world are currently testing its technology, it said.