Out of retirement

Once its own cell phone company competing with the big mobile players, ESPN Mobile has found new life after parent Disney had pulled the plug, reports the Associated Press (via Wired).

ESPN Mobile has entered into an exclusive multiyear deal with Verizon Wireless to bring the sports network's flashy feed of sports scores, newscasts and video highlights to Verizon cell phones. Customers of other major carriers will still have access to ESPN.com info via the web, but the Verizon deal circumvents hard-to-navigate webpages on a mobile by offering smoother controls and presentation.

The Mobile ESPN service, expected to launch in the coming months, is to be included free as part of the $15/month or $3/day charge for V Cast's assorted multimedia offerings.

For cell carriers, such deals provide a way to differentiate themselves at a time when revenue from phone calls is shrinking. The national providers have invested billions to upgrade their wireless networks, which they are using to generate new revenue by selling multimedia content, from music to video, and plain-old web surfing.