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 Send to email | Why A Virgin Mobile-Helio Deal Makes Sense in SSKMVMT |  By Silicon
el 08-May-2008 |
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 "Virtual" mobile carriers Virgin Mobile USA and Helio each have something the other doesn't: Helio has cool phones and high-end subscribers happy to pay $85 a month on cellphone service, and Virgin Mobile has a real business, where it has more than 5 million subscribers and makes a profit.
So would they work better together than alone? We think so. Virgin and Helio are in talks to combine, Moconews' Rafat Ali reports, citing anonymous sources. One deal Rafat has heard about has Helio majority owner SK Telecom (SKM) buying Virgin Mobile (VM), which would then buy Helio in an all-stock transaction.
Why would a Virgin-Helio deal make sense?
- Scale: Both operate using Sprint Nextel's (S) network. So more subscribers means more wholesale service they could buy in bulk, on one bill. And, a nice touch, their phones are more compatible than if one of the two used AT&T (T) for its network.
- Complementary, not competitive services: Virgin Mobile targets the low- and mid-level of the prepaid wireless business. Its average subscriber spends $20 a month on service. It's also aiming at people who want to spend about $40 a month. Helio's subscribers, meanwhile, spend $85 a month for lots of goodies, including video, 3G Internet access, etc. Minimal overlap, and a good opportunity to upsell to Virgin customers who want to upgrade.
- Distribution: We don't expect to see many of Helio's high-end phones next to Virgin's on the shelf at Sears or Wal-Mart. But Virgin has plenty of distribution, and Helio needs more of it.
- Cool phones and software: Helio's phones are pretty slick, and the Helio Ocean YouTube app is excellent.
- Profitability: Virgin Mobile's stock has not fared well since its IPO: It's down 80% from its 52-week high. But Virgin made $4.2 million of profit on $1.3 billion of revenue last year, while Helio lost $327 million on $171 million of revenue. We imagine there's quite a bit of synergy and cost-cutting that could occur if the companies joined up.
See Also:
Helio: How To Lose Half A Billion Dollars In Three Years
Who Would Buy Helio?
Virgin Mobile USA Stinks Up Q1, Blames Economy, Says Q2 Will Be Worse
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| Virgin Mobile swallows Helio, Helio posts Q&A |  If you haven’t heard by now — Virgin Mobile is acquiring Helio for $39M — you’re really living under something… In any case, what’s going to happen to Helio’s 170,000 subscribers? Well, we’ve go a hold of an internal Helio Q&A which answers some of those concerns. A couple highlights? Helio subscribers service will not [...] [..] Read complete article | | Published 27-Jun-2008 by The Boy Genius in HelioNewsaquisitionvirgin mobileWireless
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 | Nerdblog |  Blogger | Provides news about hardware, software, notebooks, laptops, PCs, Mac, PDAs
Nerdblog.Net |
| Helio offers push Gmail |  So you got yourself a Helio Ocean, Helio Fin, or Helio Mysto, and you use the email all day long. All your various email services are push-enabled except for Gmail. Ain’t that a bitch? Well, Helio users woke up this morning to find that Gmail is finally push-enabled on all aforementioned devices. No crazy configuration [...] [..] Read complete article | | Published 24-Apr-2008 by The Boy Genius in ServicesHelioHandsets
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| Nerdblog | Blogger | Provides news about hardware, software, notebooks, laptops, PCs, Mac, PDAs
Nerdblog.Net |
| MWg Roadmap Shows Windows Mobile 7 Device in Q4 2008 |  Wow, not sure we expected this one. According to a video shot during the roadmap portion of an MWg presentation, Q4 of this year will bring with it the first crop of Windows Mobile 7 devices. This of course makes absolutely no sense given the time line between 6.1 and 7, but we suppose crazier [...] [..] Read complete article | | Published 10-May-2008 by Zach Epstein in Windows MobileHandsets
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| Virgin Mobile facing more problems | 
As we’ve seen a number of smaller carriers and MVNO’s close their doors over the last 12 months, it’s clear that things aren’t so easy for the little guys in the American wireless business. The most recent carrier facing a bit of trouble looks to be Virgin Mobile. A recently leaked internal document reveals that [...] [..] Read complete article | | Published 17-Apr-2008 by Joshua Karp in News
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"Virtual" wireless carrier Virgin Mobile USA (VM) posted an ugly Q1: Revenue, profit, and subscriber growth shrank year-over-year, while the percentage of customers fleei [..] 
Verizon (VZ), the No. 2 U.S. telco, is close to a $27 billion deal for Alltel, CNBC's David Faber reports. If true, this makes plenty of sense:
A deal for Alltel, the No. 5 U. [..] 
