The Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG), will
cease operations of its U.S.-based mobile virtual network (MVNO) phone
service later this year and will instead explore a new business model
for its content and services that might include offering its popular
Family Center product through a partnership with a major U.S. carrier.
The Family Center suite allows users the ability to display the location
of a child's handset on a map, to limit when
and how the child's phone is used, and to set
limits on expenditures in terms of voice and data.
All service will end by December 31, 2007.
Comment from Wireless and Mobile News:
This
could be good news for kids who have been tracked by their parents, and
bad news for parents who need to know where their kids are.
This is the second MVNO to go under this year. The first was the now defunct bankrupt Amp'd Mobile. The MVNO was one of the top purveyors of
content for the young and broke. The Hollywood
Reporter reported, "The bankruptcy filing said that nearly 80,000 of its
175,000 subscribers were "non-paying."
"It's been clear
since we launched the MVNO that we were offering something both unique
and useful for families that wanted to provide their kids with a mobile
phone with suitable content and features while retaining a measure of
control on how and when it would be used,"
said Steve Wadsworth, president of the Walt Disney Internet Group. "Our
feedback from customers and critics from the beginning has been that we
exceeded the mark in that respect. However, the MVNO model has proven,
as we've seen with other companies this past
year, to be a difficult proposition in the hyper-competitive U.S. mobile
phone market. In assessing our business model, we decided that changing
strategies was a better alternative to pursue profitable growth in the
mobile services area."
WDIG, a worldwide leader in the mobile content business, is exploring
opportunities with major U.S. carriers with regard to a new business
model for the Family Center features.
Current Disney MVNO customers will continue to receive service and
support until Dec. 31, 2007. Customers who have questions should see www.DisneyMobile.com
or call Guest Services at 1-866-DISNEY2 for more information.
Disney will offer a reimbursement program for eligible customers.
Additional details surrounding the reimbursement program will be
available on the aforementioned Web site no later than Oct. 8, 2007.