Telstra unveils walkie-talkie style service pricing

The carrier said today the service -- which requires users to acquire push-to-talk enabled handsets -- would be charged at AU$0.01 per second for person-to-person calls and AU$0.02 per second for person-to-group calls.

The pricing plans include AU$50 per month unlimited usage.

Telstra said the service would be offered free of charge from 21 June to 30 September, to a limit of 500 minutes per month. Charging will kick off from 1 October. From 1 September 2004 to 30 September 2005 inclusive, all customers who connect to push-to-talk will receive one months' free usage. The carrier said the required handsets were available at several Telstra shops nationwide.

The service is presently available through Telstra's GPRS mobile network and be available to CDMA customers later this year.

The carrier said it had been trialling the service with a range of business customers, including Becton, Accor Asia-Pacific, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and Alpine Shire Council. It said feedback was positive, particularly with regard to its ability "to replace multiple devices with a single handset".