Brief: ESPN Mobile's Demise Not The End Of Branded Mobile PhonesBrief: ESPN Mobile's Demise Not The End Of Branded Mobile Phones

A well-loved brand name, trendy multimedia cell phones, and up-to-the-minute sports content. If ESPN can't succeed selling a branded mobile service with all that in its favor, it's sure to scare other companies away from this nascent business. ESPN last week said it will drop its mobile service at the end of the year.

The failure provides a reality check for any company considering the mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, business, in which companies sell mobile phone service using the network and billing infrastructure of a wireless telecommunications company.

But the lesson might be that this business is less about how good a consumer brand a company has and more about whether it has the right distribution channel and access to customers.

ESPN, which is owned by Disney, was in the business less than a year on Sprint's wireless network. Now the company is looking to license its Mobile ESPN application for sports content to wireless carriers.

Other companies, including Virgin Mobile USA, a subsidiary of the Virgin Group conglomerate that includes Vir- gin Atlantic airlines, and 7-Eleven convenience stores, are sticking with the business model after being among the first to offer it. "The challenge for Disney is finding the right channel to market and getting subscribers to buy into their service," says John Green, wireless industry partner for consulting firm BusinessEdge Solutions. Cable TV companies, for instance, might have a good shot since they have relationships with customers and can bundle wireless services with their existing ones.

And Disney is still in the business with its phone service aimed at fami- lies. So it's not yet game over for branded mobile phones.