Cell phones go special interest

updated 5:29 p.m. ET Dec. 18, 2005

NEW YORK - When Jon Grauer sits down for dinner or settles in to watch Desperate Housewives, or just about any other show on TV, he's sure to have his trusty new cell phone at his side. It's not that he's expecting any phone calls. He just wants to keep checking the latest sports scores on his Mobile ESPN cell phone.

"It may sound strange, but I do use the phone when I'm watching TV," said Grauer, a self-described "sports nut" who maintains his own sports-themed Web site with scores and news (as well as a link devoted to the singer Neil Diamond). "You don't want to take your attention too much away from the TV. You just want to get updated."

Ana Maria Ramirez, instead of signing up with her husband's cell company, bought a mobile phone from Movida, which caters to the nation's fast-growing Hispanic population.

"My English is not so good," so Movida's Spanish-speaking customer service agents were a welcome relief, said Ramirez, who lives in Miami. The agent "answered all the things I wanted to know" about how the service works. "And then I called again because I didn't understand how to send text messages. They were very patient, and they explained it very, very well."

Movida and Mobile ESPN are among the earliest of a new wave of specialized cellular brands expected to hit the market over the next year. These players say they'll win customers by catering to the customized interests or needs of distinct audiences who are underserved by the all-things-to-all-people approach of the major wireless carriers.

There's "Amp'd Mobile," expected to go live this month with an eye on the youth market, and Helio, which plans to launch by mid-2006 aimed at more affluent young adults. For members of the even younger set and their parents, ESPN parent Walt Disney Co. is planning a Disney cellular brand. Content such as music and video games all figure prominently in these plans, but few specifics have been disclosed.

Another service named Primus Wireless specializes in cheap overseas calls for immigrants. On the other end of the spectrum, a planned service called Voce is going for a luxury clientele with high-priced phones and services. And IDT Corp. recently launched TuYo Mobile, which is targeting the Spanish-speaking community like Movida, a unit of the Cisneros Group.

In all, JupiterResearch counts roughly three dozen niche wireless plays that have been launched or announced in the United States alone.

None of these companies operate their own wireless networks, though a handful are fully or partially owned by big wireless companies. Instead, they all pay the big operators to connect to the same wireless towers as the national brands.

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