Many think that cellular technology, the bastard child of radio and fixed-line telecoms, will soon outstrip both parents in terms of growth. But Motorola says there will be 100 million radio units in use worldwide by 2003, making it a serious contender.
Two-way radio may have the image of an over-the-hill product, but airtime is still free.
"With radio you have only a once-off initial cost, which you can recoup in as little as three months," says Nik Patel, business manager for the Motorola commercial, government and industrial solutions sector (CGISS) for the Middle East and Africa.
Motorola also likes to tout its sets` one-touch conferencing feature.
The company introduced the P040 set this week, aimed specifically at the small and medium-sized business market. The four channel unit should come in well below R2 000 and supports voice operated transmit, adjustable transmit power levels and programmable channel spacing.
The P080 sports a LCD display and keypad using Dual Tone Multi-Frequency. The almost cellphone-like design is not incidental. If the P080 is within range of a telephone interface it can make calls directly to the fixed line telephone structure, and the same interface can also allow phonecalls to be received on the unit. Bypassing the public switched telephone network is illegal in SA, but Motorola says all the units it sells locally are fully functional and the onus is on the customer to ensure it is not used in any prohibited way.
Cellphones, two-way radio and pagers will move a lot closer in the future, Patel says, and eventually be incorporated into a single unit. "Your traditional lines are going to start getting blurred soon."
The two units are aimed at small businesses because Motorola believes there is growth potential in this sector. "In any business, being able to respond quickly to changing situations and getting the right message to the right person is vital," says Kim Hurley, CGISS Middle East and Africa marketing planning manager.
The company cites examples like restaurants saving waiters the time it takes to move between kitchen and table, or large stores keeping managers in constant contact with floor staff. The market, it says, is limited only by its own imagination. And radio will form a part of the instant-communications society.
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