Push-to-Talk Standard Completed

Mobile interoperability group the Open Mobile Alliance said Tuesday that it had released version 1.0 of the OMA Push to Talk over Cellular standard. The approval of the standard comes one year after it was submitted to the group.

Since May of last year, the platform has been tested in six events sponsored by the OMA, and the most recent event tested some 11 different implementations. Overall, 22 companies have submitted push-to-talk implementations on the client side, and 8 on the server side over the past year.

Approval of the standard was accelerated due to market demand, while testing was particularly voracious, the OMA said. "Operators in the US, Europe and South America have begun to see significant interest in the Push to Talk over Cellular service," OMA chairman Jari Alvinen said.

"OMA PoC 1.0 Approved Enabler Release will allow wider adoption of enhanced service capabilities, introduction of PoC into new markets and a more reliable group services world wide."

In the US, push-to-talk was first made popular by carrier Nextel. Since then, Verizon, Sprint, and Cingular have added the capability. Nextel's network is based on Motorola's proprietary iDEN technology. However, carriers using GSM and CDMA for the most part have shied away from push-to-talk, generally because of the expense involved.

Analysts say that with the OMA standard in place, adoption among the carriers may be quicker. However, users should not expect push-to-talk interoperability anytime soon, as numerous technical challenges must be overcome in order to complete such an effort.