Telecom matches rival

Telecom has matched Vodafone's launch of a walkie-talkie style service for mobile users. Both companies will start the new services today - although apparently that is a coincidence.

The "push to talk" services enable communication between individuals, or groups of users, without the need to dial numbers or set up conference calls.

Telecom general manager of mobile Kevin Kenrick said today's launch was not related to the launch of a similar service by Vodafone. "We actually communicated back in December that we would be introducing this in late February.

The choice for consumers is markedly different. Telecom's starting package will cost $10 per month for 300 minutes, as opposed to Vodafone's $25 for 500 "pushes".

Telecom's maximum group size is six compared to 20 on Vodafone. And although Vodafone users can connect to 29 countries, Telecom will, at least initially, be limited to New Zealand.

Kenrick said Telecom set the maximum group size at six because 95 per cent of "push to talk" sessions are one to one.

Three hundred minutes per month enables about 450 sessions, each 45 seconds long.

Telecom are offering a two-month free trial, including the 25,000 customers who have bought push-to-talk capable phones since November.