Can someone educate me on just how effective it is? I only know what the Wikipedia article says on the subject, plus all the marketing BS thrown around by Motorola...

Are you asking about iDEN as a technology, like GSM and CDMA? Or are you actually asking about how well Motorola's push-to-talk feature works?

I work for SprintNextel, what are you looking for, exactly? How it works, the technology behind it...whatchya need?

A little bit of both. I want to know if iDEN has advantages over the cellular network and I also want to know how well their PTT works.



How does it deal with mountains? How's the reception in general? Do you have one?


I'm considering a switch to an iDEN capable phone, but it's a horrible move financially. Basically, I'm asking if it's a good emergency communicator.

Also of note is the SPOT-like subscription service offered by the local company - 3 bucks a month all in all.

Sorry, just some more clarifying questions to help someone answer your question.

I assume that you're talking about Israel, right? How popular are mobile phone carriers that use iDEN in Israel? As with most mobile phone technologies, it is often the quality and coverage of the network that makes the most difference in day-to-day performance, and not the actual technology.

When you say "mountains," I assume that you mean away from any cities/towns, like during hiking? And that probably also means away from most radio towers. That's going to be a challenge for any technology, if that's what you're thinking of.

Knock yourself out.



Yes, Israel. There's only one company. Virtually all cab drivers, paramedics, firemen, policemen and military ranks seem to have one. It's IDF's official phone, I believe. Private ownership is scarce.



Well, it's difficult to get far away from anything around here - we are talking about Israel. No, I'm more concerned about the highland nature of local geography.

Ok, I will attempt to answer your questions, but I really have no idea what your coverage there is, so here goes:
Data transfer (web stuff) is adequate, but not even close to CDMA. Its digital technology is based on the PTT feature, and not real well suited to data transfer. It DOES work, but is slower, older technology in that respect.
As for how PTT works; there isnt a better PTT service out there. Verizon, AT&T, and others, have attempted their versions of PTT, but its simply VOIP, and is still an emerging technology, and has lots of problems. Sprint is marketing theirs as well, but I advise all my clients to stay on the iDEN network if its working for them. No need to buy into the hype (I am a business account manager, not a salesman, so I dont need to BS my customers). Our public safety people here use it ALL the time. the PTT doesnt have the same failure rate as calls, oddly enough. Also, the newer devices have what is referred to as DirectTalk-what this means is that the device is removed from the network, and can be used as a standard walkie talkie. You have to configure the handset to do this, and, if you are in DirectTalk mode, you will NOT receive any alerts from anyone on the network. Its good for several people who want to communicate in an area where there isnt any signal. Distance varies with terrain, much as with normal walkie talkies.
If your FD, PD, and military all use it, I would be suspect to them being on a closed network; here in the US, the FCC is pushing to move all public safety iDEN traffic to a private 700mHZ channel, and taking them off the public network. This is for two reasons; one, to avoid cross talk on the networks. Two, they will be able to maintain their OWN network, and it will be lisenced, much like their radio channels are. This provides security and a network that wont be overloaded when a natural disaster strikes.
My suggestion if you decide to go to an iDEN ready phone; go with a Powersource device (ic402, ic502, ic602, ic902, here in the US). I am not sure if you have CDMA or GSM coverage there, but the Powersource devices here work on BOTH the CDMA network (voice & data) and the iDEN network (Direct Connect). Its sort of the best of both worlds. The 402 & 502 dont have a camera though, and the 902 has extra bells & whistles. I had a 602 for 2 years, and would have kept it, but my nephew broke his phone, so I gave it to him. IMHO, I would go for the hybrid, if you can.
Coverage is going to depend entirely on whether you are covered in your area or not. If you go to Sprints main website, they have a coverage tool (not sure if it would work for you there or not though), and that will show you where coverage is for whatever network you are looking into.
If you have any other questions, let me know. I'll do my best to answer them for you.

Thanks a ton! If you need any Hebrew-English-Russian translation, I'm your man.

There is still the question of devices... we don't have the ones you mention. This is what we do have.

I don't suppose any of these support DirectTalk?

P.S. "Devices" menu is second from the right. For me, it only works in IE and then after a few seconds of loading...

An i576 in the states has direct talk, so I would assume they do as well over there.I have most of my customers sold on this device as its a rugged, capable handset. Not pretty, but it works well. That would be my suggestion for you. Best of luck!

If all these public safety agencies are using iDEN mobile phones in Israel, I think it's safe to assume that it works well in most areas you will be because professionals like that would not tolerate using a bad system for long. I'm a little surprised to hear that so many public safety agencies in Israel and even the IDF use iDEN there. For example, do the police have separate two-way radios plus their iDEN phones, or do they rely totally on their mobile phones there?

And the Motorola iDEN phones are very sturdy. Not the smallest or most fashionable models out there, but they can take a lot of abuse.