Amman - At a press conference held on Saturday June 5, 2004, XPress Telecommunications announced the official launch of its radio trunking services based on iDEN technology in Jordan, marking the Kingdom as the first Arab country in the Middle East to launch this service.
"The successful launch of our services is a true testament to the continued efforts of His Majesty King Abdullah II and that of the Jordanian government in developing the technology sector and diversifying the national telecommunications services," said XPress CEO, Mr. Suleiman Maani. He added, "This new advanced service comes to satisfy an existing market need, providing added-value, integrated wireless solutions through a nationwide digital network."
Radio trunking based on iDEN is unique in that it provides innovative, cutting edge wireless communication solutions all combined in one state-of-the-art handset. Through the unique Direct Connect service, subscribers are able to communicate through one-to-one or one-to-many calls with a push of a single button, similar to the currently used "Walkie-Talkie" systems. XPress service also offers the services of ordinary mobile phones, such as telephone connectivity (074), SMS, and Packet Switched Date, thus enabling subscribers to communicate with fixed, mobile or international phone lines as well as roaming on iDEN and GSM networks.
The new service brings a business solution with the ability to hold a conference with a large group of people ranging from 3 to more than 100, eliminating timewasting and costly individual calls. This is especially beneficial to various businesses, emergency situations, or any other sectors that require communication with a group of people in different locations simultaneously.
Maani demonstrated the Corporate Rate Plans for the service and explained that the connection fees are a one time payment determined according to the number of members in each group. Connection fees range from JD 5 for groups of 1-15 members, and go down to JD 3 for groups made up of 71 members or more.
Direct Connect one-to-one offers unlimited talking time for a set monthly fee, starting at JD 16 a month for groups of 1-15 members, and decreases as the number of members increases to reach JD 10 a month for groups of 150 or more.
Corporate telephony (mobile) rates are at 30 fils per minute XPress to XPress; XPress to MobileCom/Fastlink 65 fils per minute; XPress to landline 45 fils per minute, with SMS at 30 fils per message and international rates are according to the Jordan Telecom rates. Corporate packages have also been designed according to usage ranging from JD 6 per month for 100 minutes, up to JD 27 for 500 minutes.
As for Retail Rates, connection fees are paid only once at JD 7, and Direct Connect one-to-one allows unlimited talking at JD 16 per month. When subscribing for Talk Groups, set up fees are at JD 10 for 3 members, with an additional JD 1 for each extra member.
Retail telephony (mobile) rates are at 70 fils per minute from XPress to XPress, and 90 fils per minute from XPress to MobileCom, Fastlink and Jordan Telecom (landline), with SMS at 30 fils per message.
Packages for retail subscribers have also been designed according to usage ranging from a package of 100 minutes for JD 8, up to a package of 500 minutes for JD 30 per month.
As for recent reports that current GSM's will be launching a similar service, Mr. Maani clarified that XPress is the only licensed digital trunked radio service provider in Jordan, with exclusivity over iDEN technology from the TRC and Motorola who developed this technology.
He further added that iDEN is the only technology that offers Direct Connect as an immediate, real time, no delay communication service, whereas, Push-to-talk Over Cellular (POC)/GPRS, which would be offered through GSM, is just an added feature, with significant delay and latency.
"When comparing Direct Connect through iDEN network and ((POC)/GPRS), which would be offered through GSM, the time needed to connect with XPress service is immediate with no delay (fraction of a second - 0.03), while you need multiples of that time with GSM. More importantly, Direct Connect on iDEN is the core technology proven to drastically succeed in other countries, while ((POC)/GPRS) through GSM has not been ETSI approved to this day," explained Maani.
The number of users through iDEN technology today reaches more than 16.5 subscribers provided by 18 operators around the globe, which include the US, Canada, South America, Brazil and Japan, with Saudi Arabia being in its final stages of acquiring the technology and launching its services.
-Ends-
© Press Release 2006
