As Disney Mobile L.L.C. approaches its one-year anniversary, the company provided a glimpse of how customers are making use of the innovative, family-centric applications at the heart of its service. The mobile virtual network operator also proffered a look into its plans for the future.
According to George Grobar, general manager of Disney Mobile, 30 percent of the MVNO’s subscribers make use of its GPS location tracking services, and parents who do so use the feature 14 times per month on average-or roughly every other day. The service allows parents to keep tabs on their children.
Grobar also offered some additional Disney stats:
-Thirty percent of Disney Mobile’s location requests are made from the Web and 70 percent from the handset, demonstrating the cross-platform nature of the application.
-Fifty-six percent of Disney Mobile subscribers are adults and 44 percent are children.
-Twenty-three percent of kids using the service are on the child “starter” plan, which offers 200 anytime minutes for $25 per month.
-More than 65 percent of its subscribers use the Family Alert prioritized text messaging feature.
As for the MVNO’s plans for the future, it is developing a new photo application that will allow users to upload photos to a family photo page with one click. Each family member will have a page, as well as a shared page for the whole family. That feature also will include parental controls on whether children can share their photos.
A family-centric calendar with a mobile alert feature is in the works as well, Grobar said.
Disney Mobile is also eying 3G. The MVNO’s service was and is still using handsets that are only able to access data through Sprint Nextel Corp.’s CMA 1x network, which limits the use of high-bandwidth applications or content. Disney Mobile is likely to add EV-DO-capable handsets to its lineup within the next six to 12 months, Grobar said.
Disney Mobile offers peek into operations, aspirations
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