Walking-talking Kodiak comes out of hibernation

Kodiak Networks, a provider of walkie-talkie-style push-to-talk (PTT) technology for mobiles, has opened a European base and announced a major deal with Lucent Technologies.

The American company - a surprise choice as Orange's supplier of PTT technology in January - has set up a European base in Swindon. It will be headed up by John Caterer, formerly of Comverse, Juniper and Motorola, as VP Sales EMEA.

Caterer said Kodiak's "current primary focus is on Orange", though the company is clearly also seeking contracts from other major European operators, many of whom are expected to work with Nokia and other large telecoms equipment companies.

Kodiak's partnership with Lucent won't have much impact in Europe because it will concentrate on PTT for CDMA2000 networks, which won't be rolled out in the continent.

Kodiak's PTT roll out with Orange uses its RTX technology, which doesn't rely on GPRS networks, as will most PTT systems in Europe.

PTT over cellular (PoC) is set to be one of the big developments in mobile this year, with operators looking to the technology to get people to use their phones more, by speaking to groups simultaneously or sending group messages, for example.