Enhanced Push to Talk

BARCELONA, Spain--AT&T Mobility  recently added Wi-Fi support to its "Enhanced Push-to-Talk (PTT)" service, allowing users to conduct PTT conversations on hotspots, and the carrier also released APIs for the service that will allow customers to add PTT functions to their applications. The efforts are part of the second phase of AT&T's PTT rollout, said M. Mobeen Khan, executive director of Advanced Mobility Solutions for AT&T Business Solutions.

Starting Jan. 1 Sprint Nextel will begin charging Nextel iDEN customers who have not upgraded to Sprint's CDMA push-to-talk service an extra $10 per month. The step is being taken as Sprint continues to move toward the shutdown of the iDEN network by June 30, 2013.

AT&T Mobility is taking aim squarely at Sprint Nextel's remaining iDEN subscribers by announcing the full availability of its Enhanced Push-to-Talk offering as well as new smartphones for the service.

AT&T Mobility appears to be preparing to take its Enhanced Push-to-Talk offering nationwide in November. The action could position AT&T to more effectively capture Sprint Nextel's remaining iDEN subscribers due to Sprint's decision to shutter its iDEN network by next year.