Xpress Joins Local Telecommunications Sector
tap_and_play Service providers
At a press conference held on Saturday June 5, 2004,XPress Telecommunications announced the official launch of its radio trunkingservices based on iDEN technology in Jordan, marking the Kingdom as the firstArab country in the Middle East to launch this service.“The successful launch of our services is a true testament to the continued effortsof His Majesty King Abdullah II and that of the Jordanian government indeveloping the technology sector and diversifying the nationaltelecommunications services,” said XPress CEO, Mr. Suleiman Maani. Headded, “This new advanced service comes to satisfy an existing market need,providing added-value, integrated wireless solutions through a nationwide digitalnetwork.”Radio trunking based on iDEN is unique in that it provides innovative, cuttingedge wireless communication solutions all combined in one state-of-the-arthandset. Through the unique Direct Connect service, subscribers are able tocommunicate through one-to-one or one-to-many calls with a push of a singlebutton, similar to the currently used “Walkie-Talkie” systems. XPress service alsooffers the services of ordinary mobile phones, such as telephone connectivity(074), SMS, and Packet Switched Date, thus enabling subscribers tocommunicate with fixed, mobile or international phone lines as well as roamingon iDEN and GSM networks.The new service brings a business solution with the ability to hold a conferencewith a large group of people ranging from 3 to more than 100, eliminating timewastingand costly individual calls. This is especially beneficial to variousbusinesses, emergency situations, or any other sectors that requirecommunication with a group of people in different locations simultaneously.Maani demonstrated the Corporate Rate Plans for the service and explained thatthe connection fees are a one time payment determined according to the numberof members in each group. Connection fees range from JD 5 for groups of 1-15members, 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 thenumber of members increases to reach JD 10 a month for groups of 150 ormore.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 perminute, with SMS at 30 fils per message and international rates are according tothe Jordan Telecom rates. Corporate packages have also been designedaccording to usage ranging from JD 6 per month for 100 minutes, up to JD 27 for500 minutes.As for Retail Rates, connection fees are paid only once at JD 7, and DirectConnect one-to-one allows unlimited talking at JD 16 per month. Whensubscribing for Talk Groups, set up fees are at JD 10 for 3 members, with anadditional 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 usageranging from a package of 100 minutes for JD 8, up to a package of 500 minutesfor 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 serviceprovider in Jordan, with exclusivity over iDEN technology from the TRC andMotorola who developed this technology.He further added that iDEN is the only technology that offers Direct Connect asan immediate, real time, no delay communication service, whereas, Push-to-talkOver Cellular (POC)/GPRS, which would be offered through GSM, is just anadded 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 XPressservice is immediate with no delay (fraction of a second - 0.03), while you needmultiples of that time with GSM. More importantly, Direct Connect on iDEN is thecore technology proven to drastically succeed in other countries, while((POC)/GPRS) through GSM has not been ETSI approved to this day,” explainedMaani.The number of users through iDEN technology today reaches more than 16.5subscribers provided by 18 operators around the globe, which include the US,Canada, South America, Brazil and Japan, with Saudi Arabia being in its finalstages of acquiring the technology and launching its services.
June 5, 2004