Helio

Virgin Mobile USA’s purchase of fellow MVNO Helio L.L.C. allows Virgin to evolve beyond its low-ARPU customers to higher-paying subscribers, as well as gain a sophisticated handset portfolio, improve its debt levels and cut a better deal with network operator …

A couple years ago, starting your very own mobile virtual network operations company was a sizzling hot idea and everybody was trying to cash in. But now, two years and a slue of MVNO closings later, the idea has fizzled. …

TEXTING. IF YOU HAD ASKED AMERICANS WHAT THAT WORD MEANT 15 years ago, most would have been short for words. Now the definition of texting, even though still not listed in some dictionaries, is embedded in our brains and the …

Just when municipal Wi-Fi seems all but dead in one place, it crops up full steam ahead in another.Oklahoma City says it just turned on the largest city owned and operated municipal Wi-Fi mesh network in the world. The wireless …

It’s been said that football is a game of inches, a description that might also be applied to the handset market. And, as in football, a team – in this case a pairing of Virgin Mobile USA Inc. with its …

Boost Mobile is hoping to boost sales with a line of new retail stores.The Sprint Nextel Corp. division opened outlets in Hialeah, Fla., Huntington, Calif., and Houston, offering customers and would-be customers an opportunity to explore Boost’s offerings “in a …

THE GROUND CONTINUED TO SHIFT in the tumultuous mobile virtual network operator space this month as one player announced plans to call it quits, another explores a potential merger and a third prepares to morph into a reseller of wireless …

First, let me say I think Wi-Fi is the best thing since sliced bread. Really, I do. That being said, a number of announcements last week made me scratch my head as different companies try to attack the wireless broadband …

Following much speculation, Virgin Mobile USA Inc. confirmed today that it is in “preliminary discussions” with SK Telecom to “explore possible strategic opportunities.” Those opportunities are expected to include a possible merging of Virgin Mobile USA and SK Telecom-controlled mobile …

EarthLink Inc. announced it will be shutting down its municipal Wi-Fi network in Philadelphia in 30 days, handing yet another black mark to the once-burgeoning market for muni Wi-Fi.After months of negotiations, Earthlink said the parties involved couldn’t even reach …

Mobile virtual network operators Virgin Mobile USA Inc. and Helio L.L.C. have few things in common other than a subscriber base that operates on Sprint Nextel Corp.’s network. And yet the struggling companies are said to be in merger talks …

America is the proverbial “melting pot,” a nation of immigrants and their neighborhoods. With greater than 80% wireless penetration, everyone needs a mobile phone. Add the complexity of the shifting landscape from voice to advanced data services and you have …

Microsoft Corp. subsidiary TellMe said it added a GPS location feature to its voice portal to give BlackBerry users information about businesses, movies, traffic, weather, maps and driving directions. The “voice in, visual out” way of receiving information is useful …

Aloft Media L.L.C. has sued several wireless handset giants over alleged infringement of a patent for transferring contact information using a mobile phone. Aloft Media, based in Longview, Texas, names as defendants Nokia, Motorola Inc., Palm Inc. Research in Motion …

SK Telecom and Citi hope to push the mobile-banking envelope with a new, San Francisco-based joint venture. The companies unveiled Mobile Money Ventures, a joint venture that aims to develop a platform that “encompasses all key mobile banking value propositions” …

Intellect Wireless Inc. has sued T-Mobile USA Inc., U.S. Cellular Corp., Virgin Mobile USA Inc. and Helio Inc. in federal court in Chicago, accusing the companies of infringing wireless image messaging patents.The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court …

Mobile virtual network operator Helio scored $171 million in revenue during 2007, way up from the $46 million in revenue the company reported in 2006.However, the company’s net loss also continues to widen: In 2006, Helio’s net loss was $192 …

Come one and come all. Three of the nation’s top four wireless carriers now plan to offer unlimited voice calling for $100 month.Verizon Wireless gets bragging rights for the being the first carrier yesterday to stick its neck out on …

AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless have both announced new unlimited nationwide calling plans for $100 a month. The plans give customers unlimited calls to wireless and landline phones with no roaming or long-distance charges. Verizon Wireless’ new offering is available …

Don’t be fooled by the flow of VC funding or the fact that Google Inc. and MySpace are in on it. The truth is, mobile social networking is not as cool as its fixed Internet brethren. An obsession with user-generated …

EarthLink Inc. has officially shut down all operations related to its municipal Wi-Fi projects that hit the skids last summer. Making good on earlier promises, the company is looking for potential buyers after writing down a $20.7 million charge on …

Voce’s promises are now just a hollow echo of P.T. Barnum’s famous dictum, “there’s a sucker born every minute.” “The ultimate service,” the now-defunct mobile virtual network operator’s Web site still assures viewers. “Voce redefines customer care.” In the case …

Sprint Nextel Corp.’s subsidiary Boost Mobile and mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. tweaked their unlimited voice, data and messaging plans.Boost Mobile introduced a new $1 per day voice plan for pay-as-you-go customers, which includes unlimited nights, unlimited mobile-to-mobile and …

Urban, youth-oriented MVNO Helio L.L.C. is racking up “record growth,” the company said yesterday in announcing that founder Sky Dayton will leave the CEO post to become chairman. Dayton replaces current chairman Jinwoo So, president of global business at SK …

Sprint Nextel Corp. is continuing its battle to right a listing ship. The nation’s No. 3 carrier announced it would cut 4,000 jobs and close 8% of its stores after losing 683,000 postpaid subscribers and 202,000 prepaid users during the …