Sprint on Wednesday announced plans to launch an enhanced version of its Sprint Direct Connect service in the fourth quarter of 2011, which will allow for improved push-to-talk coverage over its CDMA network.
This move is part of Sprint's network modernization effort, Network Vision, as the carrier expects to start phasing iDEN out completely in 2013.
According to Sprint, this revamp of Direct Connect will offer increased push-to-talk coverage and more broadband data capabilities, along with a host of new features. Direct Connect will run on Sprint's 1,900-MHz spectrum, as opposed to Sprint's current iDEN network, which runs on the 800-MHz spectrum. Push-to-talk will be interoperable across both spectrums.
"We've seen steadily increasing demand for faster data speeds, better and broader coverage, and more applications on push-to-talk devices," Paget Alves, president of Sprint Business, said.
With Direct Connect, Sprint expects to expand calling capability from 65 percent to approximately 98 percent of Sprint services areas, to cover a population of 309 million. In-building coverage is also expected to improve through Sprint's continued investment in CDMA technology and radio equipment. There will also be a number of new features on offer, such as availability notification, and simultaneous PTT and data.
Sprint Direct Connect will initially launch with a number of rugged devices on offer from Motorola and Kyocera. They are expected to feature most of the capabilities available on current Sprint push-to-talk phones, along with new applications and functionality including high-speed data access, high-resolution cameras, and Bluetooth support.
Sprint introduced QChat technology in 2008, which also tired to port its push-to-talk service over to its CDMA network, but never really took off.