Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Tune in to...
Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Cingular finally starts...
A couple years ago, starting your very own mobile virtual network operations company was a sizzling hot idea and everybody was trying to cash in. But now, two years and a slue of MVNO closings later, the idea has fizzled. With the shut downs...
Mobile virtual network enabler Visage Mobile announced plans to sell its Subscriber Management business to billing giant Convergys Corp. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Visage was one of a number of so-called MVNEs that rose in the wake of the mobile virtual network...
Editor's Note: Welcome to Yay or Nay, a feature for RCR Wireless News' weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week we'll review a new wireless application or service from the user's point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and...
The latest casualty in the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) space is XE Mobile, which targeted college-age youth and marketed itself as a hip, provocative alternative to traditional carriers with an affinity program and cheap long-distance calling.According to a message on the pay-as-you-go MVNO's...
So the big mouse has left the wireless house.Just over a year after unveiling its mobile virtual network operator plans in a fireworks-studded event at the CTIA show in the spring of 2006, the Walt Disney Co. decided to pull the plug on its...
Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCR Wireless News to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the...
IF 2006 WAS THE YEAR OF THE LAUNCH for mobile virtual network operators, then 2007 has so far been the Year of the Crash.The last few months have brought a screeching halt to the MVNO hype that dominated 2005 and most of 2006, when...
The Walt Disney Co. is shutting down its remaining mobile virtual network operator, Disney Mobile, as of Dec. 31. The company announced this morning that it would dismantle Disney Mobile and would explore "a new business model for its content and services that might...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our Monday feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Jupiter Research's Julie Ask, iGR's Iain...
Amp'd Mobile Inc. went dark last week, after filing for bankruptcy and being unable to raise sufficient funds to carry it through reorganization.The company joins Mobile ESPN in the annals of failed mobile virtual network operators, and its customers were stuck with shiny paperweights...
Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of Amp'd Mobile Inc. may not necessarily signal the death knell for the business model, but is certain to make investors and partners wary and put additional pressure on other fledgling mobile virtual network operators to review their own...
Editor's Note: Welcome to a special edition of our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Compete's Miro...
Mobile virtual network operator Amp'd Mobile Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection over the weekend, claiming its back-end systems have been unable to keep up with the company's rapid growth. The MVNO said in a statement that it expects to continue normal operations during the...
As the flurry of mobile virtual network operators that launched in 2006 start to settle in, some are proclaiming customer gains with stand-alone business models-but MVNOs are also taking alternate tracks to promote their brands and content. Both Helio L.L.C. and Amp'd Mobile reported...
The content and user interface of the short-lived Mobile ESPN L.L.C. mobile virtual network operator is set to be resurrected as an addition to Verizon Wireless' Vcast data service. ESPN and Verizon Wireless said that they have signed an exclusive, multiyear agreement to provide...
The content and user interface of the short-lived Mobile ESPN L.L.C. mobile virtual network operator is set to be resurrected as an addition to Verizon Wireless' Vcast data service. ESPN and Verizon Wireless said that they have signed an exclusive, multi-year agreement to provide...
Several weeks ago I wrote a eulogy for fallen mobile virtual network operator Mobile ESPN. In it I cited the MVNO's lofty aspirations for the wireless space, but noted that the company misjudged the market's appetite for a sports-focused operator with little pricing differentiation....
Editor's Note: Welcome our Monday feature, Analyst Angle. We’ve collected a group of the industry’s leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Current Analysis’ Peter Jarich, M:Metrics’ Seamus McAteer...
NEW YORK-Outlining Walt Disney Co.'s strategy for tackling a consumer-driven TV future, Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney-ABC TV, revealed some of the company's numerous new-media initiatives around the globe at Mipcom, an international programming sales conference. Mobile TV,...
Sprint Nextel announced that it will sell the Motorola Slvr, Krzr and Razr sometime in "early November." We're trying to figure out exactly why Sprint Nextel issued this press release. Why didn't Sprint Nextel just wait until the phones were actually available before they...
The mobile virtual network operator space has been a-buzz lately, with a new MVNO launched, one closing shop, another sold and yet another expanding its service offering beyond handsets into laptop cards. Following is a look at five areas experts said MVNOs need to...
