27th
Helio bought by Virgin
So it was reported today that Helio was bought by Virgin wireless. The MVNO industry is the only one that I know of that comes close to the Airlines, in terms of markets that simply do not work. You might say what about Virgin and Boost, those are 2 successful MVNO’s, and you are right but they are both owned 50% by Sprint which I am sure has helped them a little. The only stand out (which I would say is the Southwest of the industry) is TacFone but even they are owned by America Movil which is one of the largest mobile providers in Central/South America.
Helio had invested over $750 million from what I can tell, add that on to ESPN Mobile, Voce, Ampd and the other MVNO’s that have failed and the losses are massive.
There are some industries where it seems that it is almost impossible to make money, this does seem like one of them. What’s funny is that Richard Brandson seems to like to play in both, guess the guys like a challenge.