Movida was a Kansas City prepaid phone brand built for Hispanic customers. It started in 2005 and ran on Sprint. In April 2008 it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. APC Wireless bought it weeks later and kept the brand. Wikipedia lists the final end of Movida service as 2012.
Movida is gone
Movida filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Delaware court in early April 2008. It had more than 267,000 customers in 45 states. APC Wireless, through its Cozac LLC unit, closed a deal to buy it in mid April 2008 and kept the Movida name. Wikipedia lists the brand as ended in 2012. No source BestCellular.com found gives the exact day.
If you had a Movida line
After the 2008 sale, APC Wireless kept Movida plans and contracts the same. No source says where customers went when the brand ended in 2012. Movida ran on Sprint, and Sprint no longer exists as a network. A Movida number unused since then is almost certainly gone. Pick a current carrier and start fresh.
The 2008 bankruptcy and sale are well documented, but the 2012 end date comes only from an uncited Wikipedia row.
How Movida ended
- 2005: Movida starts selling pay-as-you-go service on Sprint Nextel’s network.
- Early March 2008: Movida reports more than 267,000 customers in 45 states.
- April 2008: Movida files for Chapter 11 in Delaware and asks the court to end its Sprint deal as of April 1.
- April 2008: APC Wireless closes its purchase of Movida and keeps the brand, plans and contracts.
- 2012: Wikipedia lists Movida as ended.
Why Movida ended
In its April 2008 bankruptcy filing, Movida blamed tougher competition and the costly, restrictive terms of its Sprint agreement. Rivals cut phone prices, and Movida said its margins were too low to match. It owed Sprint Nextel nearly $16 million. APC Wireless bought the business and said it would cut costs. No source BestCellular.com opened explains 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 Movida
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. Movida counts in our tracked total, not in our active total, so it does not appear in tools built for live carriers.
Questions about Movida
Is Movida still available?
No. Movida went bankrupt in April 2008 and was sold to APC Wireless, which kept the brand running for a time. Wikipedia lists Movida as ended in 2012. You cannot sign up for Movida phone service today.
Which network did Movida use?
Movida ran on Sprint Nextel’s network under an MVNO agreement, per RCR Wireless News in April 2008. Wikipedia lists the technology as CDMA. Sprint has since been merged away and no longer runs its own network.
What happened to Movida customers?
In April 2008, APC Wireless bought Movida and said existing plans and contracts would stay the same. No source says where customers went when the brand ended in 2012. BestCellular.com found no named successor.
Why did Movida go bankrupt?
Movida’s April 2008 filing blamed rising competition and the restrictive, costly terms of its Sprint deal. It said it could not join handset price promotions because its margins were too low, and talks with Sprint to fix the terms failed.
Sources
Checked October 14, 2026.
- RCR Wireless News: Movida turns out the lights: April 2, 2008. Chapter 11 in Delaware, Sprint Nextel MVNO, 267,000+ customers in 45 states, since 2005, reasons for filing, Sprint owed nearly $16 million.
- RCR Wireless News: Hispanic-focused MVNO sells to APC: April 21, 2008. APC Wireless closed the Movida purchase; brand and contracts stay the same; Sprint deal intact.
- Phone Scoop: APC Wireless Rescues Movida from Bankruptcy: April 20, 2008. APC Wireless unit Cozac LLC bought Movida; same contracts, phones and support.
- Fierce Wireless: APC buys bankrupt MVNO Movida: April 21, 2008. Cozac, an APC Wireless unit, bought Movida and kept its plans and contracts.
- Wikipedia: List of mobile virtual network operators in the United States: Defunct table row: Movida, Personal, host Sprint, CDMA, end date 2012. No references cited. Checked 2026-10-14.
Best Cellular. “Movida: What Happened,” BestCellular.com. https://bestcellular.com/movida/
Free to reuse with credit. Licence, sources and the full dataset. All defunct carriers are listed on carriers that shut down.