• July 24, 2007

Amp'd Mobile, the upstart mobile service provider that targeted young, early adopters with a 3G-based, data- and content-rich mobile offering has officially ceased operations--leaving a reported 175,000 customers without service.

This past Saturday, the company sent text messages to its customers that said: Your svc may be disconnected on 7.24 @12:01 am. Go to www.ampd.com or contact the location where you activated your service for further information.

Smaller mobile service retailers like Luckywireless.com and 1ShopWireless.com have capitalized on the mobile upstart's demise--purchasing "AMP'D" and "Amp'd" as sponsored search ads with taglines like "Lost AMP'D" and "Amp'd Customers welcome," with body copy that details how former Amp'd customers can keep their old mobile number and handset when they sign up for new service.

Amp'd filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 1, with court documents revealing that some 80,000 subscribers (or 46% of its subscriber base) were non-paying customers.

The mobile service provider will sell everything from its popular mobile content business to studio equipment from its Los Angeles headquarters in attempt to pay some of its debts--as Amp'd reportedly owes $56 million to carrier partner Verizon Wireless alone, and has less than $9000 in its accounts.

--Tameka Kee