Helio has officially opened for business. The mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a partnership between SK Telecom and Earthlink. Helio is aiming to bring Korean level mobile technology to the US market. The company hopes to have 3 million customers by 2009.
Helio is launching with two similarly featured handsets, the Pantech Hero and VK Mobile Kickflip. Both phones feature EV-DO and a 2-megapixel camera. An exclusive (at this time) partnership with MySpace lets you use most features of the popular social networking site right from a mobile handset.
Pricing for airtime runs surprisingly high, with the cheapest regular plan costing $85 a month for 1000 minutes. That price does include unlimited data access and messaging. An a la carte service is offered that doesn't have the extra features, but it still costs $40/monthly for 500 minutes of airtime.
Joe, not sure about the tax thing. I'll try and find out. I have a kickflip coming for review, so that will be one of the things I will ask.
Any idea when these phones will be available for purchase and if we can port our existing cel #'s to helio? Also whose network will they be using (I'm guessing Verizon)?
Thanks!
You can TRY to port your number over. I've been trying for almost 3 days now and they can't get it to work. One of the guys slipped up and told me they are having problems with porting in general and especially with Verizon numbers (which mine is). So now I am going to be escalated to their "corporate" people to see what's going on tomorrow. Port at your own risk. They use Sprint's network for now, expanding to use Verizon's as well soon (they have agreements with both).
Still looks good. I send a lot of messages and what not, so the $85 price isn't that bad. But I wonder if it has all the same taxes and fees as other wireless carriers (since they are a virtual carrier). anyone know??