JupiterResearch: Amp'd Mobile: From Media to Minutes

Julie Ask JupiterResearch writes about the Amp'd MVNO. Ask mentions she overheard a gentleman at E3 "ask an employee if the 22,000 subscriber number that we all ready heard about earlier this week was a true number. She said that she thought they had closer to 5,000 subscribers. Who knows. No judgement here ... customer acquisition is very very hard. I think MVNO's like Amp'd and Helio can play a role in pushing the envelope in terms of how consumers view their handsets and how carrier sell services so we like to see them stick around."

She then points out that "they were advertising $99 for unlimited minutes forever ... and free phones (with some strings attached). The $99 was the lead message on the cover of the pamphlet." She writes:

Wow. This is from an MVNO that markets themselves as a media company. We've known that the percentage of mobile subscribers choosing wireless carriers based on entertainment offerings is statistically "zero." Amp'd has said though that they can be profitable (not sure if this takes into account current pricing of handsets/services) with 500,000 subscribers which is statistically zero percent market share. Technically, from their claims, they can be profitable with less than one percent market share.

Ask concludes that:

It is interesting though that only six months from their launch, they are using a marketing message - value based minutes and handsets - that the wireless carriers know works and appeals to a much broader base. Could be a sign that the market is not yet ready for "media" to lead the marketing message even for less than one percent of the market.