Walt Disney Co. said Thursday that it would end its Disney Mobile phone service at the end of the year, the second time in a year that the huge conglomerate has orchestrated a quick closing of a cellphone operation. The service had been tailored to the communications needs of families and children, offering features designed to enable parents to stay in touch with their children and help youths learn to use cellphones responsibly. The decision, coming a year after Disney suspended a similar niche offering, Mobile ESPN, illustrates the challenges of competing with national wireless carriers that own their networks. Launched in June 2006, Disney Mobile enables parents to monitor their children's phone usage or restrict the times of day or the days of the week when the phones would work -- eliminating potential abuse, such as children sending text messages to friends during class. The phones also use a global positioning system that enables parents to track a child's whereabouts.http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-disney28sep28,0,5609667.story?coll=la-home-business
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