One of my favorite recent blog posts is Seth Godin’s “Getting funded is not the same as succeeding.” Whether or not we’re in a bubble, it’s a sign of the times that this post has to be written in the first place. As Josh Elman tweets, we’ve gone from RIP Good Times to funding a grilled cheese company in less than three years (Sequoia was involved in both interestingly). Instead… → Read More
This is a New York real-estate story and one of marketing excess. It’s about Amp’d Mobile, the too-hip-for-its-own-good virtual mobile carrier that filed for bankruptcy last June after burning through $360 million in capital. A lot of that money was spent on things like MTV ads to attract 175,000 young, urban customers. The problem was that nearly half of them turned out to be unable… → Read More
It is almost a done deal. Prexar Mobile will buy Amp’d Mobile, and in exchange the bankrupt MVNO will get a 25 percent stake in Prexar. A Delaware judge has approved United Systems Access (serving under PrexarMobile brand name) purchase of the Amp’d Mobile customers. As part of the cash and stock return Amp’d will be paid based on many of its many of its customers make the switch. [Via… → Read More
Yesterday Prexar Mobile, a provider of wireless voice, messaging and data services, announced it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire the strategic wireless assets of Amp’d Mobile. Customes will continue to get uninterrupted wireless service. “Amp’d Mobile worked diligently on an agreement that would guarantee continuity of service for their former customers and a way to seamlessly… → Read More
Amp’d Mobile is most likely shutting down today, July 31, and a list of assets for sale shows where the $360 million in VC went that caused the MVNO to file for Chapter 11. Of course, there’s the additional $100 million Amp’d owes Verizon, but that’s beside the point. It seems a big chunk of change went towards the production of porn, which is prevalent when zooming through the Amp’d… → Read More
Amp’d Mobile customers had gotten a reprieve yesterday, and the company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 1, said service will continue until at least July 31. As of Tuesday the youth-oriented service, which leases its network from Verizon Wireless to which it owes more than $30 million, posted on its Web site that will potentially suspend service in the U.S. on July 31. An auction… → Read More
Welcome to July 24, everyone. I guess Amp’d didn’t get the memo and forgot to shut off services. I fired up my Moto Q this morning and everything still worked. So I started downloading some more Club Jenna Mobile content. It was awesome. July 31 looks to be the new shut off date, but CS was still kiboshed yesterday. Q&A → Read More
We’ll be watching the Amp’d Mobile site very closely today. The MVNO has posted an FAQ page detailing its closure and offering some options for its current customers. What we do know is that the site might be shutting down tomorrow (July 24), and customer service will likely be hanging up later today. Amp’d Mobile FAQ → Read More
According to Amp’d’s Q&A section, “Amp’d is potentially suspending US operations on July 24th.” All customer support will cease and desist after July 23. I guess the good news is that you can take your phone to any other CDMA network, but you’re losing your status as the cool guy/gal. Oh well. → Read More
Will Qualcomm step up and be the knight in shining armor for Amp’d Mobile? Our sister site Crunchgear doesn’t think Qualcomm is eyeing Amp’d, even if In-Stat analyst Allen Nogee thinks it could happn. OK, so Qualcomm already offers MediaFlo mobile TV service to carriers, and it also is the developer of many mobile applications. So Amp’d could prove to be a good testing ground for those… → Read More
With Amp’d Mobile filing for Chapter 11 protection and owing Verizon a lot of cash, things in the future could not get any worse for the dying MVNO. But I suppose Verizon threatening to shut off your network, effectively slowing your business to a grinding halt, is a bit worse. Verizon recently asked Amp’d to cough up $4.5 million within 10 days or face a shut off. When your company… → Read More
Late Friday night the hippest MVNO next to Helio filed for Chapter 11 due to rapid growth and a back-end infrastructure that was unable to handle its 200K subscriber base. Amp’d claims they just need to restructure, but maybe it’s because they owe Verizon $33 million and a total debt of around $100 million. I’m no finance guy, oh wait, yes I am, but that’s probably why… → Read More
Are things really over for Amp’d Mobile? As our sister site at TechCrunch is reporting the word is that the company has burned through $360 million in the last two years, and is now in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Amp’d had attempted to market mobile phones to the youth market, a sector that has plenty of options. Since in many cases it is the parents footing the bill, maybe the company should have… → Read More
Amp’d has been a naughty, naughty MVNO! The FCC is about to lay the smackdown on Amp’d for not protecting customer data securely enough. Turns out HP hired a bunch of private detectives to call up Amp’d impersonating customers and fished data out of the mobile provider. Amp’d hasn’t been cooperating greatly with the FCC on the investigation and has 30 days to rectify… → Read More
Our hockey-playing, pot-growing neighbors to the north have got a new MVNO in town and the content it’s packing is looking pretty tight. Amp’d Mobile will be leeching off TELUS’ EVDO network to launch in Canada with plenty of content in store. Some of the features Canadian Amp’d customers will receive include streaming TV, 20 Amp’d video channels, Amp’d radio… → Read More
Facing tough competition from MVNOs like Amp’d Mobile and Helio, both of which offer unlimited calling/data plans, Sprint will be testing out unlimited access plans in the San Francisco Bay area. One plan will offer unlimited voice calling, messaging, and phone-based Web browsing for $120 a month, while another plan will consist of the aforementioned plus unlimited PC data access for $150 a… → Read More
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