KIRKLAND, Wash.-CDMA 1xEV-DO carrier Monet Mobile Networks Inc. said it will shut down its network April 2. The wireless Internet carrier covers eight cites in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota.
“Due to unfortunate, regrettable circumstances, we’re shutting down service to our customers,” said Steve Visintainer, Monet’s vice president of marketing.
Monet began alerting its customers of the shutdown Thursday. The carrier said it will notify its customers through e-mail alerts, a message on its Web site and its phone system, and on postings at office locations.
Visintainer declined to provide details of the carrier’s shutdown, including subscriber numbers and finances. He said a majority of the carrier’s employees have been laid off, but declined to provide exact figures. He said the carrier was exploring “a lot of different opportunities” in relation to its network, subscribers and assets, but declined to elaborate. Visintainer said the shut down was in no way related to Verizon Wireless’ recent announcement that it would launch a nationwide EV-DO network starting in the summer.
Monet launched North America’s first operating CDMA 1x EV-DO wireless data network in November 2002. The network uses the 1.9 GHz spectrum band, Qualcomm Inc.’s CDMA technology, LG Electronics Inc.’s base stations and Gtran Wireless Inc.’s modem cards. The carrier’s business strategy was to offer unlimited wireless Internet access to both laptop and desktop computer users for $40 per month with a $100 modem. The service provides data speeds of between 300 to 700 kilobits per second, and users can roam throughout the carrier’s coverage area.
Monet said it chose to operate in the upper Midwest due to low spectrum costs for the area and the relative lack of competition.
In an interview with RCR Wireless News in November of last year, Monet’s chief executive George Tronsrue III said the carrier counted “several thousand” customers. He said Monet’s churn numbers were around 2 to 3 percent, and that it had enjoyed positive net adds for its first 11 months. He said the carrier’s growth rate plotted at a 45-degree angle. Tronsrue said the carrier was looking to offer voice services in addition to its wireless Internet offerings through a mobile virtual network operator agreement, although nothing had been finalized.
In the November interview, Tronsrue said Monet wouldn’t reach break even until 2006, and that it would need additional funding to reach that goal. Monet has raised $81 million in financing since its founding in 1999.
Earlier this year Verizon Wireless announced it would upgrade its nationwide network to EV-DO technology following successful trials of the network technology in Washington and San Diego. Several Asian carriers currently operate EV-DO networks, which are based on Qualcomm’s technology.
A Qualcomm spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on Monet’s network shutdown.
