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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Disney Hangs Up on Mobile Phone Service

The Walt Disney Co. will cease its mobile phone service at the end of the year and re-evaluate its place in the competitive mobile phone industry. A change in strategies to offer the Disney-branded Family Center service through a partnership with a major carrier is a better alternative to pursue growth, company officials said. As a mobile virtual network operator, Burbank-based Disney rented space from Sprint Nextel Corp. and made its Family Center service available on specially designed phones. The Family Center service allowed parents to track where their child was with their phone and limit when and how the phone was used. “The [mobile virtual network] model has proven, as we’ve seen with other companies this past year, to be a difficult proposition in the hyper-competitive U.S. mobile phone market,” said Walt Disney Internet Group President Steve Wadsworth. Virtual network provider Amp’d Mobile closed this summer after filing bankruptcy. Last year, Disney shut down its Mobile ESPN service, which had also operated through Sprint Nextel. Reuters reported a Disney spokesman stating that 120 Internet Group employees would be affected by the shutdown. The exact number of layoffs was not known because the company was trying to find the workers other jobs within Disney, Reuters said. Disney mobile customers will continue to receive service until Dec. 31.

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