News Corp (NYSE: NWS). announced in October that it was overhauling its mobile division after buying the remaining 49 percent stake in Jamba from VeriSign (NSDQ: VRSN). As part of the restructuring, News Corp. created the Fox Mobile Group, and planned aggressive new initiatives, including a new U.S. brand that was on target to go live in the next couple months. But today at CES in Las Vegas, Mauro Montanaro, Fox Mobile’s CEO and former Jamba CEO, told me the launch has been delayed because of the economic climate. Montanaro: “We are revisiting the launch dates because after September-October, the economic crisis hit very hard. We have a name, and we have a whole plan, and now we are looking at when…It will be in the first half of the year.”

The delay will push out the launch by only about three months, but Montanaro said the company is also tempering its enthusiasm for the U.S. market. In October, he told us that U.S. subscribers “are ready to consume data, including content on the phone.” And, although he still believes the U.S. market has a good mix of broadband and mobile penetration, the company is also looking to launch in other markets, “so we can achieve economies of scale and hit the English-speaking markets at the same time.” Full details on mocoNews.net...

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• Fox Creates Mobile Group After Buying Jamba Stake; Will Launch U.S. Brand