Disney to Close MVNO
9/28/07 – The Walt Disney Internet Group announced yesterday that it is closing its Disney-branded mobile virtual network operator service, or MVNO. The move could have a big impact on Los Angeles-based MVNO startup Helio, as the closing of Disney Mobile leaves Helio as the only large stand-alone data-focused MVNO.
Disney says it will shift its mobile focus to a new business model that might include offering its Family Center services 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. Disney ultimately made the same shift to a carrier partnership a few years ago with its ESPN Mobile MVNO.
Attempting from the start to establish a profitable business in a difficult market, Helio has been under intense scrutiny since the bankruptcy and shutdown of fellow Los Angeles-based MVNO Amp’d Mobile. And the news hasn’t been positive for Helio lately, as the company recently let go an undisclosed number of employees, and co-investor EarthLink recently pulled out of further investment in the company.
Helio was founded in 2005 by EarthLink founder Sky Dayton and has been backed to this point by EarthLink and South Korea’s SK Telecom.
Helio – www.helio.com
The Walt Disney Internet Group – corporate.disney.go.com/wdig
