AT&T is going after Sprint Nextel's iDEN customers with the launch of a rugged push-to-talk handset from Samsung that features a video sharing capability. The carrier is hoping its niche market appeal will be popular with PTT die-hards (i.e. construction workers and engineers) who need to share live video communications.
The handset, called the Rugby, will operate on AT&T's HSPA network and the clamshell phone is military-grade in terms of its ability to withstand the elements.
Sprint Nextel has consistently been losing its iDEN push-to-talk customers to other operators. At the end of second quarter, Sprint had 14.6 million subscribers on iDEN, down from 17.3 million at the end of first quarter.
For more:
- see this release [1]
- to see a picture of the Rugby, click here [2]
Related Articles:
Is Sprint selling its iDEN [3] business?
Is there much value in competitive PTT offerings [4]?
Links:
[1] http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/200809160930PR_NEWS_USPR_____AQTU515.htm
[2] http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/pic-samsung-rugby/2008-09-16
[3] http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-selling-its-iden-business/2008-08-07
[4] http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/is-there-much-value-in-competitive-ptt-offerings/2008-04-21