Firefly Mobile made the Firefly, a phone for children aged 8 to 12 with parent-programmed contacts and no number keypad. It launched in 2005 and also ran its own wireless service as a mobile virtual network operator. Cingular pulled the phone from its stores in April 2007. Wikipedia lists the service as ended in 2012.
Firefly Mobile is gone
Firefly Mobile no longer offers service. Wikipedia’s list of US mobile virtual network operators shows it as defunct, on AT&T’s network, with a 2012 end date. Trouble came earlier. In October 2006 the company raised $3 million to restart after the cost of running its own customer service hurt results. In April 2007 Cingular stopped selling the Firefly in stores and kept it online only.
If you had a Firefly Mobile line
The sources name no carrier that took over Firefly Mobile customers. Families needed new service on their own. A number not moved before the service ended is very likely gone. If you need a phone for a child today, choose any active carrier.
How Firefly Mobile ended
- April 13, 2005: Columnist Douglas Rushkoff reports Firefly Mobile’s kids’ handset and a carrier deal with SunCom.
- November 16, 2005: The Firefly phone becomes available, per Wikipedia.
- October 19, 2006: VentureBeat reports Firefly raised $3 million to restart after its own-service model proved costly; earlier investors did not reinvest.
- April 12, 2007: Phone Scoop reports Cingular is pulling the Firefly from its stores and will sell it only online.
- 2012: Firefly Mobile service ends, per Wikipedia’s carrier list.
Why Firefly Mobile ended
Running a phone company proved expensive. Firefly Mobile chose to offer its own wireless service and customer service on other carriers’ networks, and VentureBeat reported in 2006 that customer service costs hurt the company’s performance. Its original investors, who had put in $26 million, chose not to invest again. In 2007 Cingular pulled the phone from stores. The sources do not give a reason for the final 2012 shutdown.
How to find who holds an old number now
- Check an old bill or payment record. It names the company that billed you last.
- Run the number through a carrier lookup tool. It shows the carrier that holds the number today.
- Call that carrier and ask for the account number and transfer PIN.
- Start the port from the new carrier. Never cancel the old line first.
Your right to keep a number
Number portability is federal law, not a carrier policy. The rule is the FCC’s: Portability: Keeping Your Phone Number When Changing Service Providers.
How we verified Firefly Mobile
BestCellular.com tracks active carriers and defunct ones. We keep both, because people still search for brands that no longer exist. Every fact on this page comes from the sources listed below, and we leave a detail out when no source states it. Where sources disagree, this page says so. If you can document a correction, tell us and we will check it against the sources.
Tracked and active are different counts on this site. Firefly Mobile counts in our tracked total, not in our active total, so it does not appear in tools built for live carriers.
Questions about Firefly Mobile
Is Firefly Mobile still available?
No. Wikipedia’s list of US mobile virtual network operators shows Firefly Mobile as defunct, with service ending in 2012. There is no Firefly Mobile plan to buy or reactivate. Families need an active carrier.
Which network did Firefly Mobile use?
Wikipedia’s carrier list names AT&T, which absorbed Cingular, as Firefly Mobile’s host network. Cingular also sold the Firefly phone. A 2005 report said Firefly’s first carrier deal was with SunCom, a regional carrier in the South.
What happened to Firefly Mobile customers?
The sources do not name a carrier that took over Firefly Mobile customers. Families had to find new service on their own when the service ended, which Wikipedia’s carrier list dates to 2012.
What made the Firefly phone different?
It had no 10-digit keypad. Parents programmed up to 20 numbers in a PIN-protected address book, plus dedicated keys for mom, dad and emergency calls. Call screening could block numbers outside the list. It had no texting or downloads.
Sources
Checked October 13, 2026.
- Wikipedia: Firefly (mobile phone): Introduced by Firefly Mobile in 2005; available November 16, 2005; features.
- VentureBeat: Firefly raises $3M to restart, revealing MVNO problems: Own wireless and customer service proved costly; $3M restart; prior $26M investors did not reinvest (October 19, 2006).
- TechCrunch: Cingular and Verizon drop kiddie phones: Cingular stops selling the Firefly in retail stores, keeps it online (April 13, 2007).
- Rushkoff: Another kind of cell damage: Firefly’s first carrier contract was with SunCom; target ages 8 to 12 (April 13, 2005).
- Wikipedia: List of mobile virtual network operators in the United States: Lists Firefly Mobile as defunct, AT&T host network, GSM and UMTS, end date 2012.
Best Cellular. “Firefly Mobile: What Happened,” BestCellular.com. https://bestcellular.com/firefly-mobile/
Free to reuse with credit. Licence, sources and the full dataset. All defunct carriers are listed on carriers that shut down.
Live carriers to look at instead
No carrier took over Firefly Mobile’s customers. These carriers publish their network and run today.