• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, October 1, 2007

Disney said it is abandoning its 15-month old company-operated, Disney-branded mobile phone offering, moving to a model where it licenses its content. The service will exit the market at the end of the year.

Disney suggested that it might reach a deal with a specific wireless operator to carry its programming. Sister company ESPN also pulled its owned-and-operated service from the market last year after similar hurdles.

Steve Wadsworth, president of the Walt Disney Internet Group, said the initiative "has proven, as we've seen with other companies this past year, to be a difficult proposition in the hyper-competitive U.S. mobile phone market. In assessing our business model, we decided that changing strategies was a better alternative to pursue profitable growth in the mobile services area."

Parents could be impacted more than kids by Disney's move. The company had billed the service as "the first comprehensive mobile phone service specifically developed to meet the needs of parents and their kids." For parents, it included a Family Center, which offered a GPS system that could help track the location of their kids' phones. The Center also let them limit the time of day kids could talk, and place caps on minutes used and text messages sent, as well as what downloads could be made.

Disney Mobile content included the opportunity to download a slew of ringtones from "Hannah Montana" and the Cheetah Girls, as well as games and video clips from Disney properties.

Disney said it will reimburse some customers as the service stops.