New World Mobility plans to launch push-to-talk services next month, as the company attempts to boost the use of its data network and attract subscribers from rivals.
The mobile carrier will be the first in Hong Kong to operate the walkie-talkie service, which allows instant communication at the press of a button and has proven popular in the United States.
New World Mobility will initially target trucking and taxi companies and other frequent users of two-way radios. This would free companies from having to maintain their own radio networks. Another target is the youth market.
Push-to-talk services allow users to maintain 'buddy lists' similar to online instant messaging; the hope is young people will be natural adopters of the technology.
'[Teenagers have] already been playing around with walkie-talkies for quite some time,' chief executive Norman Wai Fung-man said.
A key hurdle will be convincing price-sensitive youths to give up their existing phones and buy push-to-talk-enabled handsets. Also, for the service to be valuable, enough of a customer's friends must also use push-to-talk.
New World Mobility plans to offer handset bundles. It may also allow trade in on old phones. No prices have been announced.
