In a major initiative, first of its kind for a mobile service provider in India, Tata Indicom, one of the leading service providers in India, today announced the commercial launch of Push-To-Talk services in Mumbai and Pune .

Push-To-Talk from Tata Indicom will allow customers to connect directly, in seconds, with other Tata Indicom Push-To-Talk users by simply pressing a button on their Push-To-Talk capable handsets.

Targeted at Corporates, Small Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) and mass consumers, Push-To-Talk service will be available on Kyocera KY 440 handset with a host of additional features such as Brew Chat Applications group talk etc.

The Kyocera KY 440 colour handset would be priced below Rs. 7,000/-

Tata Indicom is the first mobile operator in India to offer Push-To-Talk. Built on QUALCOMMs BrewChat technology, this service enables person-to-person and person-to-group communication between users at the push of a button. This feature provides fast connection to individuals or even groups of people . This PTT service has been specially designed for CDMA200 1X networks and will go live, for the first time ever in the world on the Tata Indicom network. QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), is the pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology.

The key benefit of Tata Indicom Push-To-Talk is that it frees the customer by allowing him to instantly call a group of people at one time from any place. In addition, with the concept of Always On, - Push-To-Talk does not work on distance and is more cheaper, faster and convenient than sending an SMS.

Push-To-Talk addresses the critical communication needs of businesses large and small, sales teams, professionals and government departments like the police and fire brigade without being confined to a location. It enhances productivity and efficiency, saving time and money in the process. Internationally, it is also a rage amongst the youth, who use it to instantly communicate with their buddies. For families and friends, the Tata Indicom Push-To-Talk service is a means of increasing fun, faster communication and less effort by sending out an instant voice message.

Mr. Charles Antony, Managing Director, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited said, Tata Indicoms key focus is to bring the best value to customers through introduction of innovative products and services backed by superior technology solutions. We are proud to be the first to bring, Push-To-Talk to India. We believe that Push-To-Talk is an important step in Indias mobile telephony industry. The customer now has a unique service that provides instant connectivity and also has significant cost benefits. Weve partnered with QUALCOMM - the pioneers of CDMA technology, for this solution. It will be available across all our talk plans on a new Push-To-Talk enabled Kyocera handset.

He further added, We are happy to introduce Tata Indicom Push-To-Talk in Mumbai and Pune. We are confident that customers will receive an unmatched wireless experience and the service will be immensely popular among corporates and masses.

Backed by internal market research, Push-To-Talk is like a mobile solution, which provides instant connectivity, enhances mission critical communication needs and significant cost benefits to the customers. The company is confident that Push-To-Talk would go a long way in uniting the Indian masses and today, Tata Indicom has taken the lead to launch Push-To-Talk, which is bound to open new frontiers for mobile market in India.

Benefits of Push-To-Talk

• Instant Connectivity
  Push-To-Talk instantly connects with co-workers, family and friends within seconds at the push of a button.

• Group Talk
  Calls can be one-to-one or one-to-many group calls. Other parties in the call can take their turn by just pushing the PTT button.

• Convenient
  Frequent, repetitive communication is not necessary any more

• Easy to Use
  Just push a button and speak with a group of users simultaneously

• Real time user availability status
  Display will indicate if others in the user group are available or not. This will help the users to see whether the recipient(s) is/are available before initiating the call

• PTT
  Alerts to ensure privacy and mobile etiquette, one can even send a PTT alert to the recipient before establishing a PTT call

• Enables Multi-tasking
  Recipients need not answer the call, thus can attend to other tasks while listening to the group chat. Ideal in business applications like taxi services, hospitals, utilities, etc.

• Time Savings
  PTT helps spend less time talking and more time taking care of business since it facilitates group calling.

• Security
  PTT calls runs over a secured network, a customer gets an incredibly clear secure link between a communicator and listener. Push-To-Talk, allows corporates to establish a digitally secured communications for Group Calling to manage their business and share confidential information

The BREWChat solution offers Tata Teleservices superior call set-up performance, bandwidth savings and is designed to seamlessly upgrade to and interoperate with the BREWChat technology, which operates on CDMA2000 1X Release A networks and provides even faster performance capabilities.jkkj

About Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited
Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited, is the premier telecommunication service provider in the state, licensed to provide telecommunication services in Maharashtra (including Mumbai) and Goa. The company presently offers telephony and ISP services in the cities of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Panaji, Sangli, Thane and Ahmednagar. It focuses on all market segments, i.e. commercial, residential and PCO. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) launched Tata Indicom Mobile services in July-August 2003.

Tata Teleservices has over 6.5 lakh customers in Maharashtra and Goa. These include reputed Corporates, SMEs and residential customers.