Virgin Mobile looking to merge with Helio?

Times haven't been so great at Helio, but it looks like the troubled MVNO could be snapped up by Virgin Mobile. mocoNews did a little digging after Virgin's recent Q1 conference call, and says that the two companies are currently in merger talks. Since both companies use Sprint's network, the tech would be compatible, and the deal would give SK Telecom a way to keep Helio going as it tries to gain a foothold in the US market. Nothing's set in stone yet and the two companies aren't talking, but we'll definitely keep an eye on this one.

[JAmerican @ May 8th 2008 3:03PM]

All these damn mergers! Either the FTC is on a vacation forever, since AT&T came back together, or they just getting paid off every single waking moment.

[mog @ May 8th 2008 3:38PM]

Erm, I really don't think Helio and Virgin Mobile are in danger of becoming a monopoly. A monopoly on obscure, youth-targeted MVNOs, perhaps.

[Froggy @ May 8th 2008 3:38PM]

it's a global market. competition is getting to be global rather then just regional. sucks a little to be on the receiving end of it (i.e. less choices in the short run), but the long run is up for debate.

[Tone @ May 8th 2008 3:06PM]

Trying to desperately stay afloat.

[Froggy @ May 8th 2008 3:36PM]

maybe if the commercial didn't suggest that you don't call their phone a phone they might have had better pull. Or maybe not. Fact is, I still have not found a pay as you go plan in the states worth considering.

[Joshi @ May 8th 2008 3:39PM]

Helio isn't a pay-as-you-go company. They're postpaid, just like a major carrier.

[Marty @ May 8th 2008 3:43PM]

The fact that some people think Helio is pre-paid is a clear sign that they haven't done enough to really educate people on who they are.

Eh. Let them merge. Who cares.
"As many... we can only give crappy service. As one, we can give REALLY crappy service!"

[jason @ May 8th 2008 4:52PM]

I've been using Helio for over a year and haven't had any issues at all. (Ocean + Opera Mini + unlimited text + email) x QWERTY = :)

[Peter @ May 8th 2008 3:52PM]

I just wonder why all of these MVNO's are CDMA. I would think that they could do much better going GSM. That way, anyone coming from a GSM carrier could easily switch around handsets and go between carriers, rather than the hassle that occurs with CDMA phones.

[Anthony Mazel @ May 8th 2008 3:53PM]

I have helio and love my service?

Can't ask for an easier push-over crew of customer service reps. Complain for 2 seconds and they give you a credit.

I get overall good coverage (even though where I live I don't get 3G, but that's not their fault it's mine)

Can't ask for a more affordable plan. 99/mo with unlimited everything, and a semi-smart phone like the ocean. Taxes are much more reasonable than say, cingular, which is what I moved from.

Overall I'm very pleased. The ocean could use some software updates and the music player is stupid on how it sorts music, (alphabetical no matter what you do) It's no iPhone, but it's got qwerty!

[Allan @ May 8th 2008 4:10PM]

I also am happy with my Ocean. The software does have some issues... I wish there were OTA updates for it.. or any updates at all, really. It's slow and occasionally buggy.

But with QWERTY and a full set of mailboxes for whatever you need... it's a big communicator for me. And I rarely use it for actual voice calls.

That said, unless the rumored Ocean2 is much improved or brings something new and awesome to the table... I'll probably be jumping to AT&T next year for an iPhone.

[Alex @ May 8th 2008 4:30PM]

At a glance at that title, I thought it said "Virgin Mobile looking to merge with Halo?"
First thought: "Dear God. Bungie are getting desperate..."

[frank @ May 8th 2008 4:52PM]

I had Helio for a while and definitely agree that they're a great carrier. You can't beat their handsets for cutting edge, super-small form factor.

@ Anthony Mazel -- I also agree about their customer service being a bunch of pushovers. Unfortunately, it's a cover-up for poor organization. They royally f'd my account up and despite being extremely nice about it, every time I called they had no record of any previous calls.

Anyway, I think what's most interesting about the merger is that one company Helio has arguably the most advanced phones while Virgin basically has a fleet of free pieces of junk.

[frank @ May 8th 2008 4:55PM]

Couldn't agree more. I can't believe CDMA is still in existence at all, let alone the choice of MVNOs. It's utterly astonisihing to me that there are technologically educated people in this world using phones without removable SIM cards.

[Sascha @ May 8th 2008 7:03PM]

If you really want to know, the MVNOs are CDMA because Sprint is the only physical carrier in the US to offer a decent MVNO deal. AT&T will not offer data to MVNOs, making a data-focused MVNO a pretty poor fit for them. T-Mobile doesn't do MVNOs at all, because they're spectrum constrained as is. Verizon will be MVNOing like mad when its "any device" plan comes on line, but they're also CDMA.

Voce did an MVNO off AT&T, voice only. TracFone/Net10 also has a voice only deal with AT&T.

It's not that CDMA is a "choice," it's that CDMA is the *only* choice if you're an MVNO who wants data.

[frank @ May 8th 2008 4:57PM]

Supposed to be a reply to Peter above.

I thought the new site design was supposed to fix the comment reply issues... Oh well.

[eseiber @ May 8th 2008 4:59PM]

I hate both companies! I went from Virgin Mobile to Helio and both are a nightmare! I moved because Virgin double charged me for a month and would not do anything to compenstae and Helio has double charged me once, Charged me 145 plus tax twice now for the 99 all in and the Indian jerks are so stupid and you cannot understand them I end up hanging up on them. I have had to send a long letter and file with BBB. I can't wait to get to a decent company if there is one!

[Anthony @ May 8th 2008 5:01PM]

i just got virgin mobile!!! and now they might be merging with the company that has that cool jet sliding phone thats white colored that i wouldve gotten but went with getting a red super slice from virginmobile and now have a chance to get the super cool white jet sliding phone they have.


very intriguing.

and as for my phone, it says it has 3g on the back??? why do you all accuse it of cdma or whatever it is??? anyway i hope this merger happens.

[Dave @ May 8th 2008 5:05PM]

sweet. that would mean nice phones for virgin mobile users. currently they're not even worth a glance...

and where did that virgin mobile insignia come from?

[marvin42 @ May 9th 2008 11:56AM]

That would be the UK Virgin Mobile logo- it changed when it joined up with cable providers NTL/Telewest to become Virgin Media.

[Dave @ May 9th 2008 12:52PM]

ah, I see. no wonder I didn't recognize it...

oh, and I should have said: US virgin mobile users...

[egloskerry @ May 8th 2008 5:26PM]

Anthony, the Super Slice has EVDO Rev 0 which is a 3G technology. 3G does not only mean UMTS.

And how come the news post first says the two companies are in merger talks, then that they aren't talking?

[Smacky_Wolf @ May 8th 2008 5:29PM]

Hell yeah! Maybe we'll actually get the Ocean here in Australia. That would be awesome... =)

Looks like a great device...

[med1320 @ May 8th 2008 5:32PM]

I live in the Bahamas and I love my Helio and the service is sweet. This should be a good merger if it happens.

[akatsuki @ May 8th 2008 5:56PM]

Might not be too bad... Virgin already has the low-end, so they would not overlap too much. The real problem with Helio was that despite the US market being totally backwards and slow, Helio never really pushed the high-end tech stuff as fast as necessary, and just as they started to get a bit of traction with the Ocean, the iPhone gutted them.

The Korean and Japanese market cell phones are still insanely more advanced, with digital TV, DVRs, full GPS, 5mp cameras, etc... and that is what it would have taken to get the US market going for Helio as a high-end carrier (and this was years ago).

[MinceyFresh @ May 8th 2008 6:32PM]

I was really hoping to see KDDI Mobile and Helio eventually merge... But yeah... It would be interesting to see where this merger is going.

[Slow2Start @ May 8th 2008 7:04PM]

I'm thrilled. I swore off the big wireless providers after being screwed one to many times. I like the way Virgin operates but their phones suck. This may end up as a sane service with some acceptable phones.

[joseph @ May 8th 2008 7:13PM]

akatsuki: My N95-8gb has all those things (well, the TV/DVR s hooked up through slingplayer). The only thing the Ocean has that I wish I had on my phone is a qwerty keyboard.

[Chris A @ May 9th 2008 12:55AM]

So, in terms of making a profitable company, how about Helio goes ahead and makes their devices quasi usefil to technically adept people by adding SSL and SSH apps to the Ocean, a device which is begging for it but AFAIK has neither option. There's no harm in adding geek appear to your items, but specifically excluding them by leaving out functionality (http://www.asty.org/?p=1) is a good way to kill your company.

[Inimical @ May 9th 2008 2:15AM]

@Chris A

I have a Java SSH client on my Ocean.. had it for a while now, there's actually quite a bit of homebrew apps for it.

[chemisus @ Jul 3rd 2008 2:19PM]

i have been searching for a ssh client for my helio ocean, but can not find one. can you post a link to where you got it from?