DoCoMo To Offer PTT

Wireless

Using the groundbreaking name “Push Talk” (afraid of a lawsuit from Nextel?) NTT DoCoMo will launch Push-to-talk service on six 3G phones which this December. The DoCoMo PTT service will have 2-second call latency, and will sell for 5 yen per push (5 cents) or US$8.70 a month unlimited. A higher tier plan allows group chat up to 20 people for a flat $17.40 per month. We’ve said here before that no carrier should expect PTT to turn them into Nextel overnight, with $70 ARPUs, but PTT might provide a nice incremental service revenue to carriers seeing a decline in their voice ARPUs.