The InformationWeek -- Blogs
Over The Air

Mobility Breifing Center -- Sponsored by Windows Mobile
Topics:   Mobile

  • Email this page E-mail this page
  • Print this page Print this page
  • Bookmark and Share
  • icon

Is Disney About To Kill Its MVNO?


Posted by Stephen Wellman, Sep 19, 2007 05:38 PM

Is The Walt Disney Co. about to kill its MVNO play? Surely Mickey and the crew will not meet the same fate as the ESPN MVNO and Amp'd Mobile, right?

Nothing is definite yet, but according to Dan Frommer at the Alley Insider, Disney CFO Thomas Stagg is far from impressed with the MVNO's performance:

Disney CFO Thomas Staggs didn't quite write the Disney Mobile "virtual" wireless carrier obit today, but his message was clear: it's sucking wind. At the Merrill conference in Marina del Rey, Staggs said Disney has seen "some challenges" distributing its family-oriented MVNO, and the company is "in the process of evaluating where we sit." Staggs said the service has received "strong response" from parents, but that the MVNO business needs scale to be successful (which it lacks). He said it would be too early to project the MVNO's losses in 2008: the company will analyze the MVNO during its budget process and "decide just what our plan is going forward."

That hardly sounds like a ringing endorsement of the Disney MVNO model.

I have to admit that for years I thought the MVNO model made perfect sense. It looked to me a lot like the long distance re-seller model of the 1980s. And in the early 2000s, Virgin seemed to show that MVNOs could post solid growth numbers.

Since then, however, few MVNOs have been successful. OK, that's putting it mildly. Most MVNOs have burned out like a dot-com in the first quarter of 2001. ESPN, also a part of the Disney empire, shuttered its MVNO and even Helio, Sky Dayton's much-hyped play in this sector, recently trimmed jobs.

In fact, even Virgin Mobile's subscriber numbers may not be as strong as the wireless industry assumed. If Virgin Mobile isn't doing that well, then what hope do these other MVNOs have?

What do you think? Is the MVNO business model dead?

« IBM Sees Enterprise 2.0 As The Perfect Chance For Revenge Against Microsoft | Main | Intel, AMD Telegraph Increased Importance Of Graphics Processing Engines »



Sign up now for the weekly InformationWeek Blog Newsletter.


This is a public forum. United Business Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. United Business Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of United Business Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in United Business Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.




Mobile Video


Sign Up For The Over The Air Newsletter
Every Friday, our experts and analysts explore the business, strategy, and management issues most important to mobile and wireless technology.

Sign up for our free, weekly newsletter today!

Newsletter Archives




  1. Twitter In Controversial Spotlight Amid Mumbai Attacks
  2. Google Round Up: Evil Layoffs, Chrome Speed Test, Street Views
  3. iPhone 2.2 Images Hit The Web
  4. iPhone Firmware 2.2 Breaking Some Apps
  5. Don't Shut Off Vista UAC, There's A Better Way


  1. Google Chrome Browser To Support Customization
  2. Cell Phone Users Increasingly Satisfied With Their Service
  3. Cell Phones More Distracting Than Chatty Passengers
  4. WiMax Future Remains Unclear With Clearwire
  5. Texas Instruments Ranked Top MID Platform Vendor
  6. Alcatel-Lucent Could Dump Mobiles To End Pain

 
 

  Ars Technica
Boing Boing
Channel 9 Forums
CRN Blogs
Dr.Dobb's Portal: Blogs
Engadget
Gizmodo
GrokLaw
  Lifehacker
Schneier on Security
Slashdot
TechCrunch
Techdirt
Techmeme
Valleywag

  SEPTEMBER 2008
AUGUST 2008
JULY 2008
JUNE 2008
MAY 2008
APRIL 2008
MARCH 2008
FEBRUARY 2008
  JANUARY 2008
DECEMBER 2007
NOVEMBER 2007
OCTOBER 2007
SEPTEMBER 2007
AUGUST 2007
JULY 2007
JUNE 2007