This Week: Moto makes key walkie-talkie play.(Briefs)(Motorola Inc.)(Sprint Nextel Corp.)(Brief article)

Crain's Chicago Business, March, 2006 by Johnsson, Julie

Byline: Julie Johnsson In a move that could help it retain a core piece of business, Motorola is developing handsets for Sprint Nextel that are the first to operate on both the walkie-talkie network that Moto created for Nextel in the '90s and Sprint's network technology. Motorola expects the first phone to go to market by fall, with the second available by yearend, a spokesman says.

The move signals that Sprint, which bought Nextel last year, will likely remain a large customer after its supply agreement with Moto expires in 2007. Sprint Nextel's walkie-talkie phones accounted for 13% of handsets sold by Moto in '05.