Sprint debuts ‘walkie-talkie’ phone service

LAS VEGAS – Sprint PCS launched a new service in the U.S. Monday that lets customers talk on their phones as if they were walkie-talkies, taking on established leader Nextel Communications Inc. in the market for “push to talk” services.

Sprint’s PCS Ready Link service lets customers talk one-on-one or in groups of up to five by pushing a button on their phone rather than having to dial a number and wait to be connected. Such services have proved popular among businesses, especially for people working outdoors who use them for short, frequent conversations.

Ready Link plans cost $15 per month for unlimited use, in addition to a standard voice services plan, which from Sprint start at $35 per month. Customers have the same phone number for both their voice and Ready Link services, the company announced Monday at the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas.

Sprint also unveiled two phones from Sanyo Corp. for the service, one in a clamshell design and the other in a more durable, “ruggedized” form. Both have built in speaker phones and can browse the Web and access e-mail. They’re each priced at $299.99 with rebates of up to $150 depending on the service agreement.

Sprint plans to introduce a third Ready Link phone by the end of the year that includes an integrated digital camera, spokeswoman Suzanne Lammers said.

To use the service all parties must have a Ready Link phone and be within Sprint’s nationwide PCS network. Outside of Sprint’s network customers can still use the phones for standard voice calls, the company said.

Nextel was first out the gate with a push to talk service and has established a customer base of some 12 million users. Verizon Wireless Inc. followed with a similar service in August. Nextel sued Verizon the following month, accusing it of exaggerating the capabilities of its network in advertisements.