DALLAS – When Bondi Winstel’s 11-year-old daughter first asked for a cell phone, she refused.
“It seems like everything is starting so much earlier these days,” she said. “I didn’t really think it was necessary.”
But she relented in January, and many other parents will, too, if Mickey Mouse has his way.
The Walt Disney Co. announced Wednesday that it will sell a wireless phone plan next year, targeting families with kids as young as 8.
Firefly Mobile Inc., meanwhile, said its child-friendly phones are now available at Target Corp.’s stores.
Wireless carriers have long targeted teens, but now the industry is going for an even younger demographic.
The industry had 180 million U.S. subscribers at the end of last year, so it needs to find untapped markets to keep growing rapidly.
Disney, which will carry its service over Sprint Corp.’s wireless network, says parents will sign up because they trust the family-friendly brand.
“Parents want to connect with their kids and have a lifeline tied to them,” said George Grobar, senior vice president and general manager of Disney Mobile.
Winstel’s daughter, Kitty, said all of her friends have cell phones, which give them privacy when chatting.
The phone also comes in handy in emergencies, such as “at soccer practice when practice ends early, or if it’s rained out, or if I’m at the movies and I can’t find my friends,” said Kitty, a Heath, Texas, resident who turned 12 in May.
To keep her cell-phone privileges, Kitty has to stay under the 600-minute-per-month limit and maintain good grades.
Lori Burgin of Dallas was also dead set, at first, against her daughter’s requests for a cell phone. But she warmed to the idea of having a way to contact her child in an emergency. She gave in just in time for her daughter’s 12th birthday in March.
Wireless phones are useful for families who have busy kids in extracurricular activities, Burgin said.
“You’ve also got to have a responsible child who will only turn it on to let you know where they are,” she said.
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