Verizon Wireless Inc, the largest US mobile-telephone carrier, will begin selling a walkie-talkie phone in the US as early as next month, marking the first challenge to Nextel Communications Inc, said people familiar with the matter.
Verizon Wireless, based in Bedminster, New Jersey, will sell Motorola Inc's V60p phone and another made by Korea's Samsung Electronics Co, said the sources, who asked not to be identified.
Nextel has been the only nationwide seller of a push-to-talk phone in the US for the past decade. Verizon Wireless and Sprint Corp's PCS unit have both said they plan to introduce a similar product this year.
Nextel's customers pay as much as US$20 a month more than others for their service and are less likely to switch mobile service providers.
"That's an attractive place for Verizon to be, and gives their customers another reason not to switch," said Rick van Nostrand, who helps oversee US$5 billion, including 950,000 Verizon shares, at Earnest Partners in Atlanta.
Nextel is preparing to defend its product. The company trademarked the phrase "push to talk," preventing rivals such as Verizon Wireless from using it to describe their new phones.
Nextel was granted ownership of the phrase in April after a 15-month review, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office. Nextel also filed for a trademark on the acronym PTT.
Nextel is now contacting companies to inform them of the push-to-talk trademark, said Nextel's spokeswoman, Audrey Schaefer.
That may pose a marketing hurdle for competitors such as Verizon Wireless, which have publicly used the phrase.
Verizon Wireless chief executive officer Dennis Strigl in February said the company planned a "push-to-talk product well before the end of the year."
Construction crews and other businesses with employees on the road are among the biggest users of the phones that also can be used like a walkie-talkie.
Nextel's dominance of those customers helped first-quarter revenue rise 21 percent, compared with 15 percent at Verizon Wireless.
Customers of Reston, Virginia-based Nextel pay an average US$67 a month for the service, almost US$20 more than users of Verizon Wireless.
Monthly customer turnover at Nextel was 1.9 percent, compared with 2.1 percent for Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.
Jim Gerace, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless, reiterated that the company intends to release a walkie-talkie product some time this year and declined further comment.
Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Weyrauch declined to comment. Sonia Kim, a spokeswoman for Seoul-based Samsung, also declined to comment.
Nextel shares, which have risen 50 percent this year, rose US$0.03 to US$17.34 yesterday.
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