Jiangsu Mobile, Kodiak bring push-to-talk to China

Jiangsu Mobile Communications announced today that it has selected Kodiak Networks to supply push-to-talk (PTT) technology for its customers in the Jiangsu Province. JMCC is a subsidiary of China Mobile, the largest telecommunications operator in the world and the largest publicly listed Chinese corporation. The partnership represents the first deployment of PTT technologies in China.

“There have been a number of trials going on of different vendors’ equipment over the years, but none have actually progressed to being launched commercially,” said Kodiak president and Chief Executive Officer John Vice. “So this is very significant, and we are very pleased…[JMCC] expects it to grow very rapidly by an order of magnitude and beyond in the coming years.”

The initial implementation will begin immediately with 20,000 users who participated in a commercial pilot earlier this year. The wireless operator plans to initially market the PTT services to Chinese enterprises, focusing on transportation accounts, including trucking, delivery services and taxi cabs, as well as municipal governments and the retail segment. For many of these customers, the technology will replace their old, often bulky, trunk radio systems.

“There is a lot of traction for the service through a variety of corporate accounts in the region,” Vice said. “They are going to do the deployment on Nokia Siemens handsets initially, and we’ll also work with them on selecting some embedded handsets for introduction next year and some open-OS handsets also for introduction next year.”

The technology can be used wherever there is mobile service. The technology allows users to view their contacts’ availability status, as well as set their own, to instantly connect with them in the style of a walkie-talkie. In addition, users can convert PTT calls to regular cellular calls or conference in a group of contacts on the same call. XJ Wang, vice president of Asia-Pacific research for the Yankee Group, said JMCC’s commercial launch of PTT technology will set a new benchmark in the Chinese mobile PTT market.

“As one of the most innovative provincial mobile operators in China, Jiangsu Mobile’s selection of Kodiak Networks for its PTT deployment shows JMCC’s desire to differentiate and seek new growth, killer applications,” Wang said in a prepared statement. “The Kodiak solution, which has been successfully deployed by AT&T in the U.S., leverages the existing voice network and will enable JMCC to provide high-quality, ubiquitous PTT service wherever they have cellular coverage. This benefit, coupled with a unique set of applications features, will enable JMCC to distinguish and differentiate their mobile service offerings in this region.”

AT&T, Kodiak’s U.S. customer, has been deploying PTT, which it now also offers on a pay-per-use basis, for almost two years. Still a growing service in the U.S. as well, AT&T’s Allover Network for PTT currently includes 270 million people. Kodiak, a globally oriented company, is based in Plano, Texas, and opened a local office in Beijing in 2005 to strengthen its focus on the Asian market.