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That's what Rod Farthing did, at 2:30 a.m. no
less. Oh, yeah, it took him just a few minutes to get Farthing Mobile
up and running, replete with a selection of national calling plans
and cell phone models.
Business is slow so far: Since the April
launch, Farthing has signed up two subscribers, himself and his son.
But he has two prospects in his wife and another son.
Well, no, Farthing didn't actually build a
cellular network or develop a billing system and everything else
that one needs to run a mobile phone business.
Instead, he created Farthing Mobile through
Sonopia, a new "do-it-yourself" service that enables groups and
individuals to design their own cell brands with a healthy dose of
social networking gone mobile. Sonopia buys air time from Verizon
Wireless to provide service, a fact hidden by each group's brand on
the phone's screen.
"I don't expect to get rich off of it," said
Farthing, 50, a self-described "cell phone junkie" in Toledo, Ohio,
who is tailoring his cell service to people interested in
technology. He's also using it for a class project in an e-business
course he teaches at a local college. "If I get up to 100 members,
I'll be happy. If I get up to 50, I'll be happy."
Since Sonopia's public launch in early April,
about 1,000 of these customized cell companies have been created,
including about 100 by the startup's employees.
A handful have been launched by sizable
nonprofit groups such as the National Wildlife Federation, the
National Parks Conservation Association and the American Medical
Student Association. Others were started by sports teams like minor
league baseball's Long Island Ducks and the Chicago Bandits of the
National Pro Fastpitch women's softball league.
But the vast majority of Sonopia's growing
roster of wireless communities were started by individuals, families
and tiny groups with very specialized interests.
There's "Aviation History Mobile" with 13
members, the 10-member "Mums in Business," the six-member "Bitta
Irish Phone Club," the 13-member "Peninsula Skate Crew Mobile" and
the five-member "Scrabble Mobile" featuring weekly contests to
devise the highest-word score with a set of letter tiles.
Politics, naturally, aren't off limits. There
are Sonopias devoted to supporting the presidential ambitions of
Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The polls haven't closed,
but the latest tally shows "Obama For President Mobile" leading
"Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign" 12 members to 10.
While every tiny cell company adds to the
bottom line, nonprofit organizations are a major focus. Sonopia
points to the devotion people show for favorite charities, community
groups and sports teams as a natural selling point. A small
percentage of the monthly phone bill kicks back to the organization,
providing an easy way for members to pad their financial support for
a cause.
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 "If you take a cheerleader squad, there is very
high affinity. But if you take a big brand like American Airlines,
you don't find a lot of American Airlines devotees," said Juha
Christensen, a former Microsoft Corp. executive who is the founder
and chief executive of Sonopia Corp.
Sonopia provides tools for each community to
share information, photos and other multimedia content on the phone,
as well as a dedicated online site that can be accessed by
nonsubscribers who just want to be part of that community. So far,
about two of every three members are phone subscribers, while the
rest are Web-only participants.
Flaky as the notion of enabling this odd
assortment of tiny wireless "providers" might sound, Sonopia Corp.
has drawn $21.3 million in venture capital, including $12.7 million
raised just a few weeks ago. It won't disclose how many paying
customers it currently has, but says its break-even point is about
100,000 subscribers.
Sonopia gives each virtual cell company from 3
percent to 8 percent of the monthly proceeds, depending on how many
paying customers they have.
Users can choose from a wide array of
individual and family calling plans similar to those offered by the
major cell phone companies, starting at $40 a month for 450 peak
minutes with free nights and weekend. Sonopia also offers a set of
simplified plans called "Fair & Square," featuring a larger bucket
of minutes with no free off-peak periods, such as $37 for 700
minutes. There's a choice of four handsets, with prices ranging from
free with a two-year contract to $130 with a one-year commitment.
"This particular program is a wonderful
opportunity for us to promote and advance the art of animation,"
Antran Manoogian, president of the International Animated Film
Society, said of the group's newly affiliated cell phone company,
"Animation Wireless." Manoogian said he hopes to draw both animation
professionals and fans, using the phone to share news and animated
video clips.
The American Medical Student Association has
signed up 31 of its 70,000 members for AMSA Mobile, which sends
users text alerts about matters like application deadlines, said Jay
Bhatt, national president and a fourth-year medical student at
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. But he'd like to see
AMSA Mobile become an active forum for social networking and
blogging.
"What we're trying to do right now is sort out
and beef up the content," said Bhatt.
There's no telling whether the early rush of
people and groups behind Sonopia's more eclectic wireless brands
will actively maintain them beyond the initial jolt of creativity.
No doubt, as with the millions of abandoned
online sites and Web logs launched with bolder intentions, some of these
micro-cell providers will be left unattended, overgrown with cyber
weeds.
Either way, it appears likely that AT&T Inc.
and T-Mobile will survive the onslaught of "Living History Mobile,"
"Superior Moose Wireless" and "Furious Lunchmeat."
[Text copied
from file received from AP
Digital; article by Bruce Meyerson, AP business writer] |
