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Virtual cell phone operators Virgin Mobile USA and Helio are rumored to be in merger talks, a move that could bring a lot of benefits to both companies.

The tie-up between the two MVNOs, or mobile virtual network operators, was first reported Thursday by the wireless blog MocoNews. According to the blog, SK Telecom, one of Helio's parent companies, would buy out Virgin Mobile USA and then Virgin Mobile would buy Helio in an all-stock transaction.

(Credit: Helio)

As the economy tightens and other larger wireless carriers look to consolidate, it makes sense for these smaller players, who essentially resell service from Sprint Nextel, to look for alternatives. The companies are also rumored to be in talks with private equity firms.

Over the past 18 months, Helio and Virgin Mobile USA have seen many of their MVNO brethren die. ESPN Mobile, Disney Mobile and youth-targeted Amp'd Mobile have all closed shop.

And even though Virgin Mobile USA and Helio are still in business, the companies have not been immune to the increasingly competitive market place. For the first quarter of 2008, Virgin Mobile USA reported that its earnings fell 75 percent compared to a year ago. Meanwhile Helio, which is jointly owned by South Korean carrier SK Telecom and Internet service provider EarthLink, lost $327 million in 2007 on $171 million of revenue. All told, the company has lost more than $560 million since it was started in 2005.

While combining the two companies won't magically solve all their problems, they may fare better as a combined entity rather than individually.

The main reason is that the companies' businesses compliment each other nicely. Helio was originally created by Sky Dayton, EarthLink's founder, to bring cool and cutting edge devices and services to the U.S. market. The original idea behind the company was to target a young technically savvy crowd. Virgin Mobile USA, a subsidiary of the European-based phone company, has made a name for itself as a hip brand also focused on the youth market.

But it's the companies' differences that could really benefit a merged company. Even though both companies are going after a younger demographic, they are really addressing different segments of this population. For example, Virgin Mobile is a prepaid service that targets users who don't have a lot of money to spend and who have poor credit or no credit history at all. By contrast, Helio is targeting high-end users, who spend an average of $85 a month on their cell phone service. Most wireless users only spend $50 a month on service from bigger carriers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Virgin Mobile could greatly benefit from Helio's high-end customers, who are voracious data users. In 2007, Helio subscribers sent an average of 550 text messages per month. And 95 percent of the company's subscribers accessed the Web through their mobile device compared the industry average of just 13 percent.

On the flip side, Virgin Mobile USA gives Helio the opportunity to expand its customer base. Initially, Helio only tried wooing a small niche of technology elite, a set of high-end consumers who wanted cool phones and were willing to spend a lot on new services and devices. But then came Apple's iPhone, which literally changed the game overnight. And the very people Helio wanted to entice with cool devices, such as the Ocean, were instead more interested in an iPhone.

Now Helio has shifted its strategy to appeal to a wider audience. And Virgin Mobile, which has relationships with a wide circle of retailers and over 5 million subscribers, could significantly improve Helio's reach.

Even if the companies merged, it will still be a difficult market for them to survive. More than 84 percent of the U.S. population already subscribes to a cell phone service. And as the bigger carriers more aggressively address both the high end and low end of the market, it could be harder for Virgin Mobile USA and Helio to compete.

We first heard of Kajeet at CTIA last year--it's a mobile virtual network operator targeted toward families, especially those with tweens. In the wake of family-focused MVNOs getting the boot (Disney Mobile was shut down late last year, for example), it's interesting to see Kajeet still going strong. Today, Kajeet just introduced a new GPS Phone Locator service, which lets you use satellite technology to track down your child's location via Web-based maps. Parents can even schedule automatic location checks at certain times of the day. This also makes Kajeet the only prepaid carrier in the country to offer a GPS phone locator.

We reviewed the service last year, and one of the only drawbacks was that it didn't have this GPS phone location technology, which Disney Mobile had. Now it seems the carrier has corrected the problem, though we'll have to see how well the GPS feature works. The GPS Phone Locator is the latest in its Web-based management tools like TimeManager and WalletManager, which lets parents control how their kids use their phones.

Kajeet will start offering the GPS Phone Locator starting April 13 with a free three-month trial and a $9.99 a month charge per phone after that.

The Walt Disney Co. pulled the plug Thursday on its Disney Mobile phone service.

Disney said the service will no longer be available after December 31, but it might offer some of the specially designed software and applications through another wireless operator.

Disney came on the mobile scene about 18 months ago with a special phone service designed to disseminate its content and create a slew of applications designed for parents and families. Its Family Center allows parents to track their kids and limit how and when they can use their phones. It also allows parents to set spending limits on text messages and downloadable content.

Unlike major carriers like AT&T, Sprint Nextel or Verizon Wireless, Disney Mobile did not own its own network. It was a mobile virtual network operator or MVNO that leased capacity from another carrier (Sprint Nextel) and built a service around different applications.

Several companies have leveraged their brands in the mobile arena. Virgin Mobile is among the success stories. But there have also been several companies that have failed in this model. For example, Mobile ESPN, which was owned by the same parent company as Disney Mobile, discontinued its MVNO service last year after only about six months of offering the service. ESPN now offers its content and applications on Verizon Wireless' network.

Other MVNOs say they are doing just fine. Helio, the cellular phone company owned by Korean carrier SK Telecom and EarthLink, said it now has 140,000 subscribers, up 40 percent in the past 90 days. The company, which has a slew of "cool" phones targeted at young hipsters, also claims to have generated about $200 million in revenue in the first 15 months it has offered its service. And it claims to have one of the highest average revenue-per-user metrics, or ARPUs, in the industry, about $90 per customer.

Helio attributes its success to the fact that it has provided cutting-edge devices and services to its customers.

"Disney is not a mobile company, they are a media company, and this is an expected realization that being a mobile company never really made sense," said Rick Heineman, a spokesman for Helio. "Helio is a mobile company, not some other business, and our continued success is a reflection of this."

Heineman went on to say that the demise of Disney Mobile and other MVNOs like it helps "clear the field for healthy players like Helio to grow even faster with less clutter in retail channels and competition for shelf space."

"Fewer poorly conceived new competitors will be funded as people realize its not enough to sell off-the-shelf devices," he said. "True innovation and differentiators across the entire business model are necessary."

So it finally happened--Amp'd Mobile has shuttered its doors to the world (or at least it's close to doing so). Along with a handy FAQ on its site on how to handle the transition, it appears that Amp'd Mobile is also attempting to bridge a move to Prexar Mobile, which is USA Telephone's mobile division. Prexar Mobile has apparently bought out certain portions of Amp'd Mobile, prompting the customer switch. Former Amp'd customers can keep their phones and numbers, and they'll want to switch over to one of Prexar's voice plans, which range from $40 to $180 per month. We're guessing that won't include all that Amp'd Mobile content, obviously. Could this be Prexar's play to get more visibility? Perhaps, but we don't know if it'll work out in the long run.

Amp'd Mobile says good-bye

(Credit: Engadget)

It seems like Amp'd Mobile customers received a good-bye message earlier today, indicating that the carrier may be shutting down its operation no later than 12:01 a.m. Tuesday morning. Even though the company filed for bankruptcy protection in June, it looks like the end is nigh for the MVNO targeting the young and urban. There's a very handy Q&A page on Amp'd Mobile's site that lists options for existing customers (How do I port my number, and so forth). So if you're an Amp'd Mobile customer, you should definitely check that page out as to your cell phone options once the company goes under.

Update: It looks like Amp'd Mobile has pushed back its date to July 31st.

Amp'd Mobile files for bankruptcy protection

(Credit: Amp'd Mobile)

You may have seen plenty of ads for Amp'd Mobile both in print and on the silver screen, but it looks like those ads simply weren't making them enough money. Amp'd Mobile, an MVNO targeting the young and urban, has filed for bankruptcy protection last Friday stating that their "back-end infrastructure was unable to keep up with customer demand." MocoNews.net reports that Amp'd Mobile apparently owes Verizon Wireless (the network they're piggybacking on) around $33 million, with several more million owed to other creditors. Ouch. Business is expected to continue as usual, but we can't help but predict its eventual demise. MVNOs seem to be hurting financially lately, as was shown by the early death of MobileESPN late last year.