LAS VEGAS-With fog, fireworks and a helping hand from Mickey Mouse, Disney Mobile announced the launch of its cellular service at CTIA.
Steve Wadsworth, president of the Disney Internet Group, joked that the towering on-stage model of the silver Pantech flip-phone that Disney Mobile will offer looked just like any other phone-and that, he added, was exactly what Disney wanted. Adults want high quality phones, Wadsworth said, and the teen-agers and tweens “don’t want a phone that looks like a kid’s phone.”
Hence the co-branded Pantech DM-P100 phone, and the yet-to-come DM-L200 from LG Electronics Co. Ltd., with nary a mouse ear logo in sight. Disney Mobile plans to start selling the phones and plans in June; the service will use Sprint Nextel Corp.’s CDMA 2000 1x network. However, neither of the phones are EV-DO-capable, and will instead rely on the 1x network for data. Wadsworth told RCR Wireless News that Disney Mobile was “not looking to push video at this point” and that the consumer research that the company had done as it was developing the service revealed that video was “not at the top of the list, or near the top of the list” of what families wanted to see in a wireless service.
Much of the unique functions of Disney Mobile come in the form of unique parental controls. Parents can parcel out monthly minute allowances for voice, text and picture messaging, and downloadable content, and use Disney Mobile’s “Family Center ” to decide when children can and can’t use their phones. During certain days, school hours or prime homework time, Wadsworth noted, parents can disable most of the phone’s functions. However, children can always call a limited list of allowed numbers, such as parents and 911, whether the rest of the functions are disabled or they are over their minute allowance.
The monthly minute allowance, Wadsworth said, would prevent problems such as unexpectedly large wireless bills due to text messaging or teenagers eating up a family’s worth of monthly minutes. When a child reaches the end of his or her monthly minutes, an alert is sent to both the child and the parent in charge of managing the family’s service, and parents can choose to dole out more minutes unused by other family members, or restrict the phone’s call functions. Parents also can compose a list of prohibited numbers that the child is not allowed to call or send messages to.
The handset also offers a locator feature that uses embedded GPS capabilities. Parents can enter a personal identification number on their handset or at the Disney Mobile Web site and then the location, a map and an indication of accuracy show them the approximate location of the child’s device.
Families also can set up alert functions, and parental messages override the phone’s idle screen. Wadsworth noted that the device’s other functions, such as calling and data services, cannot be used until the message is acknowledged, preventing the “I didn’t get your message” excuse.
The service includes unlimited messaging among family members. Wadsworth noted that a number of common messages, such as “Where RU?”, “Running late,” “Be there soon!” and “Can you get a ride?” are included in a list of pre-programmed messages so that parents, who may not be comfortable with text messaging, will find it easy to use.
Disney Mobile did not reveal much about its service pricing plans, except to say that it will offer both individual and family plans, including child-only subscriptions which allow parents “to take advantage of all the Family Center features from the Web until they themselves can join Disney Mobile.” All plans will include the Family Center features, and consumers will be able to buy phones and service through Disney Mobile’s Web site and through mall kiosks to be shared with sister business Mobile ESPN L.L.C., which will be managed by Brightpoint Inc. Sixty test mall locations have been chosen for the two-sided kiosks, and those are expected to expand nationwide by early 2007.
Convergys Corp. will supply billing and professional services for Disney Mobile, and Visage Mobile will take care of the service delivery platform.
Handset prices will start at $60 with a two-year service agreement, Disney said. According to Disney Mobile’s Web site, the approximate retail value of the phones and service it is currently offering in a giveaway are $130 per handset and $80 per month for service.
