Verizon Wireless launched a low-cost push-to-talk phone on Monday. The company is trying to branch out further into the PTT market that has been dominated by Sprint Nextel.

The CDMA clamshell phone has EV-DO Rev. A support, dedicated push-to-talk and speakerphone support, a 1.3 megapixel camera and a microSD slot capable of holding up to 8GB. The phone will sell for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract. It is available online now and will be available in stores March 9.

The phone's pricing is significantly lower than Verizon's other rugged push-to-talk devices, which range from $130 to $180 with a two-year contract and after rebates. Many of Sprint's phones with Nextel Direct Connect fall under the $100 range.

For more:
- see this release [1]
- see these photos [2]

Related Articles:
Push-to-Talk [3] Will Reach 8.5% Penetration in North American Mobile Market
AT&T [4] launches rugged handset
Sprint [5] launches push-to-talk BlackBerry with WiFi
Sprint [6] launches GPS service for Nextel users