SprintNextel To Kill QChat

America's third largest cellular carrier SprintNextel has announced that the Sprint branded QChat two way radio service over the CDMA network will come to an end.  No new phones with the feature will be sold effective immediately.  Users of the service will be able to continue to use the service for the remaining terms of their contracts.  The walkie talkie service sold under the Nextel and Boost Mobile brands using iDen technology will remain in service for years to come. 

Two way radio service over CDMA cellular networks that QChat is based on is sold as a service called 10-4 in Canada by Bell, Bell Aliant, MTS and Sasktel.  With the end of Sprint's QChat and Bell's move from CDMA to GSM/HSPA leaves the future of 10-4 uncertain.  Sanyo and Samsung being the only manufactuers to produce handsets for QChat and 10-4 likely to drop the feature from handsets in the short term.  Two way radio service by Telus Mobility sold under the Mike brand is not affect as it uses iDen technology.