Mar 7, 2018

Say Goodbye To Sonopia: Another 'Virtual' Carrier Dies 5,771 Another "virtual" wireless carrier bites the dust: Sonopia , which opened for business a year ago, has laid off its U.S. staff and is shutting down , according to former employee Tapio Anttila (via Moconews ). This one never seemed practical: Sonopia let organizations like the National Wildlife Federation start their own mini mobile networks, offering custom phones, service on Verizon Wireless, and kickbacks to group organizers. Too niche: Like other failed "virtual" carriers -- Disney Mobile , Mobile ESPN, Movida , Amp'd Mobile -- Sonopia couldn't attract enough subscribers to make any money. "The model proved to be too ambitious and perhaps ahead of its time on the U.S. market," Anttila says . According to Anttila, Sonopia has "reached an amicable resolution with existing marketing partners to transition subscribers it had acquired." We take this to mean that Sonopia subscribers -- probably a tiny number of people -- will get to keep their phones and will get service directly from Verizon (VZ). We've put in a call to Sonopia CEO Juha Christensen for more details and will update if we learn more. The company had raised $21.5 million from ComVentures, Sevin Rosen Funds and Cardinal VentureCapital.