Amp D Mobile Inc

Amp'd Mobile Inc., a Los Angeles wireless phone company that garnered more than $360 million from a broad range of well-heeled stockholders, is hoping to revive itself under the protection of a bankruptcy filing. Amp'd Mobile, which counts MTV Networks and Universal Music Group among its investors, has marketed its phone and mobile-entertainment services to young, hip consumers by sponsoring motocross, surfing and other action-sports competitions.

Cellular company Amp'd Mobile Inc., hurt by rapid growth and a deadbeat youth market, could close its doors as early as Monday after a bankruptcy court hearing on its inability to pay its network lease. The Los Angeles-based company is expected to notify its 100,000 U.S. customers over the weekend about the possible closure while it works on contingency plans.

Amp'd Mobile Inc. got a one-week reprieve Monday but still is expected to shut down its wireless phone service in the U.S. at the end of the month. Yet a rival service, Virgin Mobile USA, is going gangbusters. It announced plans last week to raise $506 million, more than five times what it first sought, in an initial public offering awaiting clearance from securities regulators. Both companies are, in industry terms, mobile virtual network operators.

More than 100,000 customers remaining at bankrupt Amp'd Mobile Inc. have to switch to a new carrier today or face silent cellphones at midnight. Customers of youth-oriented Amp'd Mobile can go to any carrier they choose. But the Los Angeles-based company has worked out a deal with a tiny Maine company for what both hope will be a seamless transition that allows customers to keep their phone numbers and their handsets. United Systems Access Inc.