Kansas City, Mo ? Sprint Corp. is rolling out a walkie-talkie service for its mobile telephones that will compete with the application pioneered by Nextel Communications and also offered by Verizon Wireless.

Sprint said its walkie-talkie service, called PCS Ready Link, would give customers a quick, convenient way to communicate one-on-one or to groups of people with the simple push of a button.

“For businesses, PCS Ready Link provides another tool to enhance productivity for mobile workers. For consumers, it’s a form of verbal instant messaging for families and friends to stay connected,” said Len Lauer, president and chief operating officer of Overland Park-based Sprint.

Walkie-talkie services allow customers to press a special button on their mobile phones and speak with other subscribers to the same wireless service without dialing or using calling-plan minutes. Nextel had a monopoly for years on the feature, known as “push-to-talk” in the wireless industry, until Verizon launched its version in August. AT&T Wireless also plans to introduce its own walkie-talkie feature.

Sprint spokeswoman Suzanne Lammers said the company’s walkie-talkie service had faster connection speeds than Verizon’s — about three to five seconds with Sprint versus 10 to 15 seconds with Verizon — though that’s not as fast as Nextel, which takes less than one second to connect. Also, only five people can connect at one time using PCS Ready Link compared with 100 with Nextel Direct Connect.

Sprint’s service will cost $5 per month for customers who have its wireless online service, PCS Vision, and $15 per month for others.

Greg Gorbatenko, vice president of equity research for Loop Capital Markets, said that although Nextel continued to offer the superior product, getting into the push-to-talk market now will allow Sprint to create a better product down the road.