[getti]

Another day and yet another service going from orange. Push to talk that was recently launched in the UK on limited handsets is now only on offer to business customers.

1st November will see the end of it once and for all.

Orange are becoming even more of a joke as time goes on. My guess is tomorrow they will remove calls from the network as it takes away from their text revenue :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[3GScottishUser]

This is an interesting move....

I wondered why other networks never bothered with it..... it's pricing would not have won it many friends and perhaps Orange realised that consumers might reduce call revenues if they made it any more attractive.

In a market with dwindling ARPU's and ever more expensive acquisition costs I think I can sympathise with their logic on PTT. They were the only network brave enough to try it and for whatever reason it appears not to have been a moneymaker for them so I suppose it better to have tried and lost than not to have made an attempt at all.

IM services will be a big attraction especially for younger users if networks can get their act together. it'll have to be available to all users on 3G and to be really sucessful will have to bridge all the different brands (like Windows Live Messenger does now with Yahoo). At an attractive price (say £5 a month) for unlimited use (really unlimited) I think IM could do the same thing for 3G that SMS did in the 90's for GSM.

[3g-g]

Another day and yet another service going from orange. Push to talk that was recently launched in the UK on limited handsets is now only on offer to business customers.

1st November will see the end of it once and for all.

Orange are becoming even more of a joke as time goes on. My guess is tomorrow they will remove calls from the network as it takes away from their text revenue :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I have to agree with 3GSUs sentiments, if no other networks have decided to carry the service why should Orange continue supporting a service without mass appeal? If Orange were the only ones to offer video calling, and no other network did, I'd imagine they'd drop it also.

[crowfield99]

Another day and yet another service going from orange. Push to talk that was recently launched in the UK on limited handsets is now only on offer to business customers.

1st November will see the end of it once and for all.

Orange are becoming even more of a joke as time goes on. My guess is tomorrow they will remove calls from the network as it takes away from their text revenue :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Even for customers who have this activated already? :eek:

How stupid is that! I bet its not cheap to set something like this up on a network, so why only offer it to Business customers only? :confused:

[3GScottishUser]

Probably because to business contacts that type of instant communication could be useful and profitable to provide, but for private customers they have obviously found that at the rates it's not an attractive proposition.

Orange have offered the service and have decided to discontinue it because its not popular with customers... happens with lots of products and services.

[Ben]

I'd love to use PTT if the networks would embrace the standards that Nokia have integrated into all their handsets for what seems like the last 100 years. As per usual the operators are deciding what should and shouldn't be a success, rather than putting services out there at realistic costs and seeing what the market wants to do.

[Hands0n]

I'm with 3GSU on this one :p the use of IM on 3G and 2G handsets wıll definately be a very strong seller to the masses than PTT. I dont use IM myself, but just lookıng around me in thıs Internet Cafe (ın Turkey) I do seem to be the only workstatıon wıthout MSN being used on it!

Bring down data (and data roaming) charges and IM is likely to take over the world of mobiles.