Maybe The Push-To-Talk Market Really Isn't That Big...
For a while now, we've been seeing signs that the Push-To-Talk market wasn't nearly as big as people were making it out to be. It seemed like Nextel had possibly cornered the market for those who found the walkie-talkie feature useful (or, at least, worth paying extra for) and others wouldn't find such a lucrative market. Now there's even more evidence for that idea. We'd been wondering why Nextel and Verizon Wireless were spending so much time suing each other and putting out mudslinging ads about PTT, when it would seem to make more sense to try to grow the market. Perhaps the folks at Nextel and Verizon Wireless know that the market isn't really that big. A new study shows that Verizon Wireless may have a chance to sign up Nextel customers once number portability rolls around, if they improve their latency. Again, the entire focus is on stealing customers away from one another instead of growing the market. With everyone acting like this is a mature market, maybe it's because they realize it is.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
