Virgin Mobile USA will start swapping ads for airtime, similar to the concept Xero Mobile has been toutinng. This will be the first attempt to use ads by any of the major US Mobile carriers or MVNO's for that matter.

The Advertisements will be web-based streaming videos, SMS messages or questionnaires. It takes one 30-second video, two SMS messages or one minute anwering a questionnaire to get 1 minute of airtime. There is a maximum of 75 free minutes that can be earned towards an account each month. The advertiser lineup includes Microsoft’s Xbox, Pepsi-Cola, and the American Legacy Foundation.

Industry analysts still speculate -- Roger Entner with Ovum Research states: "The kinds of consumers willing to swap their time for airtime were not likely to be big spenders. If you’re too cheap to buy a minute of air time, how are you going to afford an Xbox?” Entner said. The people likely to earn minutes for free “are people who want to avoid costs at any cost.”

Nevertheless, Virgin's new dubbed "Sugarmama" is scheduled to be launched on June 14th.

Continue reading "Virgin Mobile launches ads for free airtime" »

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:19 AM | Permalink Posted to MVNO | Mobile Content | News | Virgin Mobile

Voce, a trendy niche luxury mobile virtual network operator has just started offering its flagship service in Los Angeles. The soft launch event was by invitation only and was limited to 500 people. Voce's target wireless market segment is set at affluent consumers that are only interested in voice services.

The membership fee is $1,000 with a monthly service plan that is $400. The service is ala carte with no binding contract and unlimited airtime. There is no data component thanks to Voce's exclusive voice only MVNO agreement with Cingular.

One of the key services that Voce is providing is a 24-hour concierge service that is included in the monthly service price. Two handset devices will be available at launch, the Moto RAZR V3 in colors white, black, or texturized black leather and the snazzy Nokia 8801. Customers will be able to swap out for a new handset every year at no extra cost, and the phones are fully insured for those accidental plunges into the neighborhood pool.

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:35 PM | Permalink Posted to Cingular | MVNO | News

Helio has now officially opened for business. The MVNO (Mobile virtual network operator) is a business partnership between SK Telecom & Earthlink. Helio is trying to pull Korean-like mobile technologies into the US market. The company goal is to have 3 million customers by 2009.

Helio will launch two handsets with similar features, the VK Mobile Kickflip and the Pantech Hero both with MySpace capable features. The network capabilities will support EV-DO broadband access and a built-in 2-megapixel camera.

The initial service pricing for Helio is rather pricey, with the cheapest average consumer plan costing a whopping $85 a month for 1000 minutes. This price does include the highly touted "unlimited data access" and messaging. A pay as you go plan without all the bells and whistles that runs $40 a month for 500 minutes of talktime.

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:43 PM | Permalink Posted to Helio Mobile | MVNO | News

Even though Sprint has voiced their intention to limit the number of MVNO partnership agreements, the largest cable companies in the US market are ready to launch their own company-branded mobile service on the Sprint Nextel nationwide network. The deal was originally unveiled last November, and involves the four cable companies Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cox Communications and Brighthouse Networks. This announced partnership is a seperate initiative than the Sprint Enterprise Mobility subsidiary.

The deal Sprint Nextel has made in this joint effort will produce wireless products that feature special software -- cable customers controlling and programming their video recorders remotely, calling to landlines for free, and the ability to watch exclusive programming. Customers will also be able to merge their calendars, address books and voice mail accounts. Adding mobile wireless services to the current cable company offering will give a so-called quadruple play: cable, internet, wireline and wireless phone services.

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:11 PM | Permalink Posted to MVNO | News | Sprint Nextel

[CTIA 2006] -- Disney, the parent company of Disney Mobile has finally revealed its plans to launch the self proclaimed Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) marketting itself to parents seeking to keep tabs on what their kids are doing. Disney is aiming to hit the 10-15 year old age group -- very similar to Firefly and soon to be launched Kajeet. The expanded parental controls will espcially be attractive where caps can be set on spending and tracks can be followed via GPS (Global Positioning System).

Two different mobile handsets will be available for prior to the 50 million dollar launch, the already announced Pantech DM-P100 and the new LG DM-L200 phone shown here. These fashionable cellphones will cost about $60 retail, with no rebate or contract offers yet stated by the company or marketing division. Disney Mobile is set to be unleashed in early summer, but you can register now for company updates and the chance to win a free pair of handsets and a 1 year of free service.

More info on LG DM-L200 specs >>

Continue reading "Disney reveals MVNO launch plans, LG DM-L200" »

Posted by mobilemodo at 03:48 PM | Permalink Posted to Disney Mobile | MVNO | News | Sprint Nextel

Mobile ESPN has announced today that they will expand their Retail Distribution of services to include Sprint Retail Stores. The expansion will include over 500 Sprint Stores to be rolled out by July, 2006.

Mobilemodo covered the official launch of Mobile ESPN that occured during SuperBowl XL. Since the February 5th launch, Mobile ESPN has only been sold thru through www.mobileespn.com, Best Buy stores accross the U.S, or by direct phone contact by calling 1-800-GET-ESPN. Mobile ESPN will continue to use these sales channels in addition to the Sprint Retail Stores.

"Incorporating Sprint retail stores into our distribution strategy allows Mobile ESPN to reach customers in an environment strictly committed to meeting their wireless voice and data needs," said ManishJha, senior vice president and general manager, Mobile ESPN. "The availability of Mobile ESPN at Sprint retail stores also provides an unparalleled option for those wireless consumers who are avid sportsfans and want a dedicated sports content experience."

Mobile ESPN is currently being service on Sprint's Network via a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) agreement. Sprint's next generation EVDO network is at the crux of the deal --providing broadband internet download speeds, fast access to Mobile ESPN's sports content, Internet searching, and interactive gaming.

Posted by mobilemodo at 05:27 PM | Permalink Posted to MVNO | News | Sprint Nextel

The rumors surrounding the speculation of when Apple will launch the "iPhone" media playing mobile received some more juice this week--thanks to the analyst firm Visiongain. The iPhone that Apple is clandestinely working on will also be able to do 3G (EVDO) and VoIP (like Skype) calls according to analysts.

These features will be made available via a deal with a Sprint MVNO preparing to launch known as Helio. Helio is targetting to rake-in over 3 million young, high spending customers in a virtually untapped segment of the cellphone market by 2009.

The odds are extremely good that Apple will launch an iPhone this spring in tandem with Helio's launch in the US." --Pam Duffey, Telecom Analyst for Visiongain.

Apple's only showing to date has been with the Motorola ROKR that will run iTunes. The new phone is rumored to have the look and feel design that mimics the existing iPod media players. Apple recently filed a trademark for the slogan "Mobile Me", thus confirming that they are making future mobile phone plans.

Helio to date has only announced two phones into their lineup known as the "Pantech Hero" and the "VK Mobile Kickflip".

[VNUNet]

In other news--Kajeet is making preparations for launch by posting job positions.

Posted by mobilemodo at 09:29 PM | Permalink Posted to Helio Mobile | MVNO | News | Rumors

Another day another MVNO now ready to launch, this time it's not Xero Mobile -- but XE Mobile -- "Pay As You Go" wireless. The company plans to officially unveil their service at next week's huge CTIA event, but the XE mobile service can be bought now from the the XEMobile.com website. XE Mobile is selectively targeting the trendy market of "XE"(Sexy) college students and will use the Cingular Wireless nationwide network to host the new mobile wireless service.

XE Mobile is advertising their flagship launch handsets as the Motorola RAZR (not pink but silver), Motorola V180, Nokia 2600 and Nokia 3220. The rates are tiered by levels starting with "Easy Breezy" which is 20 cents incoming/outgoing and go down to 15 cents outgoing and 10 cents incoming on the higher tier airtime plans. You can also send outgoing text messages for 10 cents each, with all incoming text messages for free -- on all rate tiers.

Evidently XE is not having problems that Cool.Prepaid experienced recently with acquisition of Motorola RAZR phones -- they can be purchased for $299.99 through XE Mobile's website. The Motorola V180 is listed for $99.99, and Nokia 2600/3220 are $119.99 and $49.99 respectively.

Posted by mobilemodo at 09:43 PM | Permalink Posted to Cingular | MVNO | Motorola | Nokia | XE Mobile

Cool.Prepaid just got slapped with a big blow to their recently launched MVNO, featuring Motorola handsets. It was revealed this week that Motorola has ended its relationship with Cool.Prepaid, knocking out the big advertising campaign in which they featured Motorola RAZR phones. The Motorola phones are still rumored to be in stock at Sears, but no details have been unveiled on their future handset models or plans to supply any to customers. If you check out the Cool.Prepaid webstore you will only find a single SIM card for sale now -- no Motorola phones anywhere in site. Customers can still activate Motorola phones and refill existing minutes on phones that have already been purchased.

Motorola has not openly commented on why the relationship with Cool.Prepaid has ended, or if it will be renewed once the current squabbles are resolved.

Posted by mobilemodo at 04:50 PM | Permalink Posted to MVNO | Motorola | News

Another MVNO announcement rocks the mobile world, this time it is Cool Mobile's cool.prepaid cellular service with Motorola Mobile phones. Cool Mobile's cool.Prepaid service is now entering a increasingly crowded market where recent announcements including market entrants Kajeet, XeroMobile, Amp'd(Amped), Disney Mobile, Helio, Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, and ESPN. Unlike many of the other MVNO's, which seem to weigh heavy on Sprint's Network, Cool Mobile is using Cingular's nationwide network.

The list of phones that cool.prepaid has launched is impressive, but slanted towards a tight relationship with a popular consumer favorite -- Motorola. The choices include Motorola's C139, C261, V176 and V235. The Moto SLVR versions L2, L6, and L7 will also be available.

The selection will not be limited to Motorola phones, but with a SIM only solution being offered for international travelers who can buy unlocked GSM phones like the Sony Ericcson W800i. Since they are using Cingular's Wireless network, you will not be able to use phones that don't have the 850Mhz band, which almost completely knocks out many native European and Asian phones.

Posted by mobilemodo at 01:45 PM | Permalink Posted to Cingular | MVNO | Motorola | News

Disney Mobile is now showing a shot of the new cellphone to be launched during summer 2006. The pre-launch website that we told you about is now showing this picture of the phone.

This is not the bright and colorful Mickey mobile phone that some people were expecting to see, but rather it is just a simple looking silver and black flip phone.

You will notice that it does have the nice camera phone option on the outside shell for those can't miss shots of the kids at Disneyland. We don't have the latest specs on this phone yet for our readers, but will update with this story with options and pricing when it comes available.

Posted by mobilemodo at 04:02 PM | Permalink Posted to Disney Mobile | MVNO | News

Virgin Mobile USA has just announced that they are offering unlimited night and weekend calling plan that will allow cell phone subscribers to place calls all night and weekend long -- to 3 phone numbers of their choosing.

Virgin is dubbing the new service as the “Inner Circle”. This deal will give customers signing up by April 30th, 2006 an unlimited supply of night and weekend service to all three numbers.

“Our research has shown that teens tend to have three numbers that they call most often—for example, their parents, their best friends or maybe a boyfriend or girlfriend,” said Howard Handler, chief strategy and brand officer for Virgin Mobile USA. “Inner Circle is designed to fit that behavior while providing unlimited nights and weekends for those calls.”

The three numbers are not limited to mobile phones only, but can also be made to landline numbers on any US based carriers network for -- 70 cents a day surcharge. User will not be locked into the 3 numbers chosen, but will be able to change the "Inner Circle list" of numbers every month.

Any additional number switching beyond 3 will cost $3 each. If you are pinching pennies -- calls to numbers outside the Inner Circle will be 10 cents a minute, so don't even think about calling international, voicemail, customer care, 411, 555 and 900 numbers.

Posted by mobilemodo at 01:16 PM | Permalink Posted to MVNO | News | Virgin Mobile

The MVNO market is quickly heating up with pre-launch of another new MVNO by the name of Kajeet soon to hit the mobile phone market. Kajeet has just secured a large chunk of Venture Capitalist funds to continue their pre-launch plans.

Kajeet specializes in the rapidly changing mobile youth market. Similar to other MVNO's (Amp'd Mobile, Boost, Virgin) they will be focused on pre-paid cell phone services. Kajeet's mobile technology ambitions will include a focus on facilitating technology that both parents and kids love.

Kajeet is putting those big Venture Capitalist dollars to work by posting lots of new telecom job openings online.

Posted by mobilemodo at 01:41 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (2) Posted to MVNO

During the Superbowl today, Mobile ESPN was officially launched with the ad slogan "Welcome to sports heaven".

Mobile ESPN will feature the flagship $199 Sanyo MVP cell phone to its first wireless subscribers who can now signup for service at Best Buy or by calling 1-800-GET-ESPN.

Mobile ESPN is a new Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that uses the upgraded Sprint Nextel Power Vision EvDO network and coverage will commensurate with the ongoing rollout of EvDO to major metropolitan areas in the U.S. during 2006-2007.

Posted by mobilemodo at 08:40 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (3) Posted to MVNO | Mobile Content | News | Sprint Nextel

Boost Mobile has annonced they will now offer Call Tones; Boost Mobile is the first nationwide cellular pre-pay wireless service to offer Ringback Tones. The Boost Call Tones service is enabled by Alcatel telecom solutions.

The new mobile service now available nationwide has been dubbed "Boost Call Tones," and it will now replace the standard ringing sound that is heard when a call is connected and the caller is waiting for the Boost Mobile customer to answer.

Boost Call Tones will also enable Boost customers to customize the sounds callers hear before a call is answered with unique content to fit their mood including music, jokes or original sound effects that entertain waiting callers.

Boost Call Tones are available on all Boost Mobile phones and you can register directly from your Boost Mobile phone by going to www.boostmobile.com.

Posted by mobilemodo at 01:29 PM | Permalink Posted to MVNO | Mobile Content | News

Amp'd Mobile and Novarra have announced that Novarra's Internet and Web search solution by the name of nWeb, is integrated into all handsets currently offered by Amp'd Mobile.

Subscribers to Amp'd (pronounced amped) Mobile will have unrestricted access to all Internet and mobile content available. Amp'd Mobile users will automatically get full Web content from the original Amp'd Internet site.

Novarra software work much like Opera Software's Opera Mini Java mobile browser by transforming and reducing Web pages on their own servers before they are transferred over the mobile phone network to the user's cell phone.

Novarra's Internet optimization solution is launched by Amp'd Mobile on Kyocera and Motorola handsets. Much like Virgin Mobile which is an MVNO that uses Sprint Nextel's CDMA EvDO network, Amp'd Mobile is an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) that runs on Verizon's next generation EVDO network.

Senior vice president of Amp'd Mobile stated: "We selected the leader in Internet transformation for their powerful platform that simplified creating and expanding our Internet offering. Novarra is integrated with Amp'd Live to create our innovative experience where a user seamlessly listens to a song, reads about the artist, searches and buys content."

Posted by mobilemodo at 02:04 PM | Permalink Posted to Amp'd Mobile | MVNO | Mobile Applications | Mobile Content | News

ESPN will be announcing the official brand launch of their new MVNO wireless service dubbed Mobile ESPN on Superbowl Sunday.

The first phone offering will be the Sanyo MVP which will be an ESPN-branded version of Sprint Nextel's MM-5600 that adds EV-DO high-speed data, similar to Sanyo MM-9000.

Mobile ESPN will make full use of Sprint's new EV-DO network to offer customizable ESPN content - including real-time scores, breaking news, commentary and analysis; fantasy sports information and team management; video and MP3 audio programming - on ESPN-branded phones.

Posted by mobilemodo at 01:48 PM | Permalink Posted to MVNO | News | Sprint Nextel

Coming to a cell phone just for you sports fans, Mobile ESPN is preparing to launch a multi-million dollar ad campaign at the 2006 Super Bowl to launch their services nationwide.

Mobile ESPN will begin its nationwide roll-out on Sunday, with a 60-second Super Bowl ad showcasing the new $199 Sanyo MVP mobile phone.

Just like the latest wireless cell phones from Asia that have high-end features that never hit the U.S., this phone is sure to be popular.

Mobile ESPN is carving out its own niche market for sports fans, just like other new Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) like Virgin Mobile, Amp'd Mobile, Boost Mobile, Disney Mobile, Helio, Cbeyond, and Movido.

Posted by mobilemodo at 07:27 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1) Posted to Amp'd Mobile | MVNO | News

Mobile ESPN has announced that they will be launching the Sanyo MVP wireless handset as the phone to get the company off the ground and running.

Mobile ESPN is a new Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that uses the upgraded Sprint Nextel EvDO network.
In complementary fashion, Sprint Nextel recently signed an exclusive 5-year deal with the NFL to deliver mobile content.

Sanyo MVP handset features:
High Speed Data Access (EvDO)
1.3 Megapixel Camera (with Flash)
The "E" Button one touch access to
Camcorder
MP3/AAC Music Player
Speakerphone
QVGA (240x320 pixels) LCD Screen
Video
3D Graphics

ESPN Mobile has released news to the press that they will launch a huge advertising campaign spotlighting the Sanyo MVP mobile during the 2006 Super Bowl XL. When could their be a more fitting time for the launch?

Posted by mobilemodo at 07:13 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (3) Posted to MVNO | News | Sprint Nextel

It has been announced that Amp'd Mobile will now be launching full scale operations in correspondence with the $.99 music download service special. They have successfully completed the soft launch that started on December 15th, 2005. Much like the Virgin Wireless concept which runs on Sprint's Network, Amp'd will be using Verizon's wireless network infrastructure to launch full scale mobile services. Similar to Virgin Mobile, Amp'd is targeting the youth market and has announced competitive pricing plans that focus on downloadable content. Both of the handsets that Amp'd is offering have support for Verizon's fast 3G EvDO network so downloads of video, music, ringtones, are really fast.

Similar to other mobile carrier plans, Amp'd will offer cafeteria style access to additional service features such as Push to Talk, unlimited data plans, and text/picture messaging. The base service plan will feature 250 minutes for $29.99 a month. The unlimited service plan will be capped at $199.99 a month which includes a free phone to get started with.

The key service plan feature that they are betting the business on is on music download pricing for $.99. This is exactly the same pricing model Apple offers at their iTunes store. It has been speculated that this pricing model will not be able to be sustained indefinitely, but will be effective in attracting new customers. Nevertheless, they are moving forward to attract as many to their services as possible. In addition to music downloads, they are offering video downloads for $1.99 and a monthly video plan that will give unlimited access to programming from CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, and others yet to be announced.

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:02 AM | Permalink Posted to MVNO | News