(EMAILWIRE.COM, March 07, 2008 ) HONG KONG – iCONNECT Push-To-Talk™, Hong Kong's first one-to-many digital two-way walkie-talkie radio service for voice and data, is launched today enabling businesses with a heavy reliance on efficient coordination, command and control to instantly communicate urgent information to large numbers of employees and business partners across the territory.

The iCONNECT Push-To-Talk™ (PTT) service offers a range of Motorola iDEN digital phones operating on a newly built custom digital network that allows companies in transportation, construction, shipping and other industries to communicate instantly with staff no matter where they are located in Hong Kong, Kowloon or the New Territories.

The digital iCONNECT PTT service provides a much more user-friendly communications tool than the earlier analogue generation. Users benefit from clearer digital sound, longer battery life, lighter weight handsets, and a wider selection of handsets at lower prices. Existing two-way wireless communication in Hong Kong is largely based on 25 year old analogue radio technology with bulky, expensive handsets that are heavy on power consumption. Service reach is often no more than a few hundred metres, limiting usage to a single site location and minimizing the practicality of PTT as a business to business tool for Hong Kong companies.
On the other hand, iCONNECT uses low-powered cell sites with seamless cell-to-cell handoff to provide Hong Kong-wide coverage, much like operators of cellular phone networks.
"PTT is highly popular with a wide range of industries across the globe – but until now it has been significantly undervalued in Hong Kong as a business communications tool," said Ted Chang, iCONNECT's Director for Corporate Development. "iCONNECT Push-To-Talk changes all that by bringing one-to-many radio into the 21st Century and offering calls across the entire SAR with lightweight handsets on a brand new digital network."

"Today, businesses are no longer restricted to using their one-to-many radio service in a single site location: transportation, construction and shipping customers can now use PTT for all their operations across the territory, and we expect many more customers with complex organizational requirements to sign up for the service as a result."

For example, PTT enables an event organizer to manage a large group of concert-goers from a central command centre by sending direct instructions to 500 or more staff to oversee train station transit, venue entry and to handle crowd control during the concert. Using a cellular phone to achieve the same results would require the organizer to set up a complex system for cascading messages via a series of individuals and passing instructions from person-to-person – a time consuming and labour-intensive approach.

In addition to its use in the consumer entertainment industry, iCONNECT offers a reliable and effective alternative to existing analogue and cellular solutions for thousands of every-day users in the construction, transportation and logistics sectors.

"For efficient management of large numbers of staff and ensuring coordination among business partners and your own teammates, PTT is hard to beat,” said Chang. “The service is also a very practical solution for both campus environment users and for people who need to stay in touch while moving around Hong Kong."

Developed by Motorola, iDEN's digital platform is a highly popular and proven digital trunked radio system accessed by over 26 million users around the globe and deployed by world class operators such as Sprint/Nextel in the United States, GRID Communications in Singapore, and KTP in South Korea. Typical users of PTT include construction companies, transportation fleet managers, airport operations personnel, bus and taxi companies, security and hotel maintenance businesses.

The iCONNECT PTT service offers basic voice and data services through a choice of Motorola i355 and i415 Walkie-Talkie models and the i830 Communicator dispatch hands-free phone with advanced call management applications that are operated via laptop computer.

About iCONNECT
The iCONNECT Push-To-Talk service is provided by Sino Asia Industrial Limited, a Hong Kong registered company and provider of quality wireless two-way telecommunications products and services throughout Hong Kong. In 2006, iCONNECT was spun off by a two-way voice and data service provider, to develop and operate a digital voice and data platform, including the 15-year old Hutchison Telecom Limited analogue trunked mobile radio network that it had recently acquired.

Issued on behalf of iCONNECT
by EBA Communications

For further information please contact:
Ted Chang (iCONNECT): (852) 2534 9812
Mark Leeper (EBA): (852) 2537 8022
Email: mark.leeper@ebacomms.com

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Contact Information:
iCONNECT
Ted Chang
Tel: (852) 2534 9812
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