Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) have been having one hell of a time over the past year. The biggest burnout among them was Amp’d Mobile , which lost $360M before realizing its customers couldn’t pay their bills .
While Helio rode high for quite some time, that company has also lost Earthlink as an investor, seen CEO Sky Dayton depart , and accumulated a deficit of $560M. Now Sonopia , an MVNO that enabled communities and organizations to set up their own branded mobile services (so-called “mini-MVNOs”), has also shut down after failing to gain traction. According to a former business development consultant, Sonopia’s “approach was too ‘involving’ and too ambitious, offering targeted services and campaigns for segmented groups…which often lacked skills in running even a marketing program, let alone a mobile service.” Apparently the inflexibility of Verizon, its parent carrier, and the over-zealous optimism of founder Juha Christensen also led the company to ruin. Sonopia is now in the TechCrunch DeadPool .
