Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) has become the latest casualty of the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) sector after it announced plans to shut down its Disney-branded MVNO service in the US by the end of this year.
The MVNO model, in which companies lease mobile network capacity to launch mobile services under their own brand, was initially seen by a number of big name brands like Disney to reach consumers directly with their mobile offerings.
However, many MVNO ventures have fallen by the wayside. Big-name MVNOs like Amp’d have cashed in their chips, while Helio (owned by Earthlink and SK Telecom) has been struggling to stay afloat.
Technically this isn’t Disney’s first failure as an MVNO - the Disney-owned ESPN Mobile also folded around a year ago.
WDIG president Steve Wadsworth said that while Disney Mobile ”exceeded the mark” in terms of developing a kids-friendly mobile service with parental controls over content, ”the MVNO model has proven, as we’ve seen with other companies this past year, to be a difficult proposition in the hyper-competitive US mobile phone market.”
Wadsworth said that Disney decided that ”changing strategies was a better alternative to pursue profitable growth in the mobile services area.”
To that end, Disney says it will explore a new business model for its content and services that might include offering its Family Center product through a partnership with ”a major US 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.
Disney followed a similar strategy with ESPN Mobile, relaunching its ESPN MVP mobile as a mobile app on Verizon Wireless.
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