mocoNews.net - Unhealthily Obsessed with Mobile Content

Current Story

Earthlink CEO Has No Plans To Sell Off Helio Stake; Remains Hopeful

By Rafat Ali - Thu 25 Oct 2007 04:53 PM PST

We reported on Earthlink’s Q3 earnings announcement earlier today. Now, from the conference call, Earthlink (NSDQ: ELNK) CEO Rolla Huff on his continued hopes on Helio: “While we all know there’s been some disappointing stories in this space, Virgin Mobile (NYSE: VM) [USA] hopefully has proven that value can be created with the right business model. While we’ll have the option to participate in future funding rounds that might be required, we have stopped our participation in the current funding rounds. We believe our preliminary agreement with SKT will put value in the $210 million that had previously been invested by EarthLink.”

The amended Earthlink-SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) agreement over additional money investment from SKT, and no additional money from ELNK, is yet to be finalized, but will soon, The broad terms were disclosed by the two earlier last month. ..the detailed agreement when signed would disclose the valuation at which SK Telecom would be putting the money in, among others, Huff said.

“I think you asked the question about can we sell our Helio stake? Look, I think that the investment that we’ve made there absolutely has value. We have no plans to go out and sell it. It’s a growing business. It’s a business that we support. We clearly understood that putting needed cash into that business was not in the best interest of our shareholders from here on out. We’re going to continue to be part of the governance structure and I think I’ve been saying all along, we believe there’s value in this business.”

Posted in: Companies, Operators, MVNO, Helio

Related Research from Alacrastore.com

9 Responses:
  • From JP Fri 26 Oct 2007 06:04 AM

    For all you deaf, dumb and blind people, what Rolla is saying is: “Helio is F’d”

  • From Luke Fri 26 Oct 2007 06:16 PM

    How JP came to that conclusion from that is beyond me.  Do some reading, you’ll see the stats and numbers for Helio are going in the right direction.  Earthlink has it’s own issues, it can’t afford to invest a lot right now.  Educate yourself before you pretend to know the mind of Earthlink’s CEO.

  • From Paul Sun 28 Oct 2007 09:49 AM

    I heard that the sales of Helio devices are going crazy and that Helio ran out of phones because they sold so much.  How can a company that is not doing good have soooo many sales???  I agree with Luke, do some reading and research for yourself and then you’ll see they are doing VERY well. 

    There are tons of sites selling Helio now and you can even find great deals on a new phone (device?).  Maybe the reason Helio is doing so well is because of these other websites selling the phones.  I found this one (http://www.hellohelio.net) to be very reputable and there is good customer service on a chat.  Pretty good for the corporate Helio image if you ask me.

  • From JP Thu 01 Nov 2007 05:45 AM

    Hey Luke and Paul, how are you doing?  It’s always great to hear from the Helio PR department.

  • From wow Tue 06 Nov 2007 01:34 PM

    Paul,
    Even if Helio devices are selling out, it doesn’t help that they are actually loosing money. Because of the initial investments they had to put in, not to mention the amount of cash the company has to bleed per subscriber. Well, its pointless for me mentioning that because you already knew that. Now, how prepared was Helio for the iPhone? and I find it weird that they don’t expect to make profit until 2009. Did they consider the impact of Google’s ANDROID at all?

  • From Dealio Tue 13 Nov 2007 09:27 AM

    JP, How’s amp’d doing?

  • From Jared Wed 30 Jan 2008 01:29 AM

    Helio is a pioneer in the world of mnvo.  I believe this business is and will be a very successful in an idustry which is truly in its infancy.  The reason for success is truly in its product and its plan pricing.  Helio, without a doubt, no matter what the phone, has the most user friendly interface offered today.  To get a real grasp on the value of Helio’s product you have to actually purchase one and use it.  It becomes quickly obvious of how great the phones really are.  They have figured out how to offer more technology in a simple, straight forward interface than anyone in the business at this time.  I currently am a customer of Helio using the “Ocean” device.  I have never had a better phone ( and as a business owner I have owned them all-- iphone, Moto Q, every treo product under the sun). No Joke.  As if the devices/phones weren’t enough on their own, the best of Helio is found in their Plans.  Mark my word, as much as the big players AT&T;, Verizon, and Tmobile do not want to admit/recognize the trendsetting Plans of Helio---they will have to as Helio’s “Unlimited Everything” is what the consumer ultimately wants/where the market is heading.  Helio’s “All In” Plan is hands down the best plan out at this time.  This plan simply is: “UNLIMITED EVERYTHING”!!! for $99.00.  Yes, you truly CAN have it all. No limits whatsoever and my bill comes in every month for $99.00 + taxes.  You have to admit that if you use any amount of minutes at all---this is what we all want:  A plan that gives us it all with no limits at a reasonable non fluxuating price per month.  Helio is the most under-rated provider, but the word will get out if its great value.  Just watch, the larger providers will follow. They will follow Helio’s example and create more user friendly interfaces along with unlimited pricing---but that’s in the future.  The future is NOW with HELIO.

  • From Chris Wed 30 Jan 2008 10:20 AM

    What most of you fail to realize is that they are staying afloat. And that is better than most of the mvno providers have done. dont judge by the loss. Every Corporation will lose money the first couple of years.

  • From Tom Wed 06 Feb 2008 11:07 PM

    Here goes, i saw a Helio store pop in my local mall i checked them out and i fell in love. I figured it was too good to be true… so i did research and i heard all this negative information coming from everywhere. People putting the company down, experts telling me it was no good. So i looked a little deeper, i found that the VAST majority of people who actually use the phone and get to know the incredibly simple interface all love them. Anyone who puts Helio down has obviously never used one. There is nothing not to like.... now for what Jared said… the plans really are great. There tax rate is like half of what any other company is and the prices are totally reasonable. I have a family plan with my buddy, 1000 minutes and unlimited Everything for about 65 - 70$ a month (per person) I currently have the Ocean.. what cant u do on this device someone please tell me. Find something worth doing on another smart phone that u cant do on the Ocean, and i promise you i can find plenty of things your phone cant do that the Ocean does with ease. Since ive gotten my Helio 3 of my friends have followed and are thrilled with it as well. Helio is for real just give it a shot.

Post Your Comment

Mobile Options

» Mobile/BB App
» Mobile/Wap Site

Send a News Tip

About

mocoNews.net is a news site covering the business of mobile content.

Rafat Ali
Publisher & Co-Editor

Staci D. Kramer
Co-Editor

Tricia Duryee
Principal Correspondent

Dianne See Morrison
Contributing Writer

James Quintana Pearce
Contributing Writer

Robert Andrews
U.K. Editor

EconAds Conference - The Economics of Ad Deals. Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008. The New World Stages, NYC

New Media/Interactive Job Listings

Post Job
More Jobs

Generous Supporters