Nextel losing its grip?

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PHILADELPHIA -- Nextel Communications has had a monopoly for years on the walkie-talkie feature known in the wireless industry as "push-to-talk." The Reston-based company has used that advantage to cultivate 11 million customers, including some 3 million blue-collar and public-sector workers.

But that lock on the market won't last. Now that Nextel has proved that people like the feature and is expanding its reach, other companies are rushing out similar options.

The Nextel phones, developed by Motorola Inc., let users press a single button to begin walkie-talkie communication with other Nextel users in a given area, often the size of a state. The feature is ideal for co-workers who need to talk repeatedly but do not want to call each other over and over or keep a line open for hours.

When Philadelphia's chief of school security, Dexter Green, wants to contact one of the 450 officers who oversee the district's 210,000 students, he pulls out a cell phone and uses it like a walkie-talkie.

Mr. Green, like millions of firefighters, police officers, city employees and blue-collar workers, uses Nextel's direct-connect "chirper feature" -- as district spokesman Vincent Thompson calls it -- because of its instant contact.

"We have a huge district and we have found that Nextel does a very good job of letting us communicate," Mr. Thompson said.

The walkie-talkie option turned out to be the only reliable way to contact school principals in Boston on September 11 after the terrorist attacks, said Boston Public Schools spokesman Jonathan Palumbo. But despite a long association with Nextel, Mr. Palumbo said the his district's loyalty is defined by one thing -- the bottom line.

"We're looking to save money left and right, so I think it's safe to assume that if we could get comparable service at a similar rate, I think it's something we'd entertain," Mr. Palumbo said.

Indeed, Nextel customers such as the Boston schools are about to get several competitive options.