Sonim's Nextel dreams

Sonim Technologies CEO Bob Plaschke has waited for this a long time. Last week, the world's first commercial push-to-talk over cellular network went live in the Netherlands, after years of standards work with the Open Mobile Alliance and trials with carriers. KPN's new PoC network, which targets the security industry, isn't the largest contract in the world, but Plaschke will take it.

“This is the tree that falls in the forest that nobody's around to hear,” Plaschke said. “Half a billion dollars has already been invested into this industry. It's great to finally see the first implementation of the standard.”

PoC standards work started in late 2003 using technology Sonim largely developed for session initiation protocol-based voice over IP (VoIP). Since then, roadblocks, delays and under-performing trials prevented the technology from taking off. Sonim's biggest disappointment was Cingular, which tested its technology but later chose competitor Kodiak Network's proprietary solution. Last summer, though, the OMA issued the final PoC spec, and the contracts started to flow.

With such a huge delay, you'd expect the competing solutions, commercially available since 2002, to be ahead of PoC, but that isn't the case. Nextel still remains the gold standard by which all P2T networks are judged. Both Sprint and Verizon Wireless tried launching P2T services using Motorola gear, but got lackluster results. Sprint now plans to use its new Rev. A network to launch a VoIP-based service for CDMA in 2008.

Even Kodiak, which succeeded in the U.S. with AT&T/Cingular and many Tier 2 carriers, couldn't capitalize in Europe. After launching in France and the U.K. with Kodiak, Orange pulled the plug on the consumer service last November.

That leaves a massive opportunity for PoC globally, Plaschke said because no GSM/general packet radio service carrier aside from Cingular has a commercial service. Already SoftBank Mobile in Japan is rolling out an Ericsson system, and Nokia has contracts with Telefonica and 3. In the U.S., however, in addition to Kodiak, Qualcomm is chasing the remaining CDMA providers with its Rev. A-powered QChat application. The U.S. also has the Nextel benchmark against all others are compared, he said.

“In the U.S. the Nextel service is still too good,” Plaschke said. “Even on our best day, the Nextel service is better.”