Money-losing companies with interesting technology and a small, if rabid, customer base still frequently tend to sell for healthy chunks of change -- especially in the wireless space. Look at Trolltech, for example, the mobile Linux company that never really made any money, yet somehow managed to be acquired by Nokia for its talent and IP, which apparently carried a value of over $150m. We know Helio was burning cash on a whole 'nother level, but that doesn't entirely explain why SK Telecom was so absurdly desperate to dump their $500m investment. At a $39m acquisition price, SK didn't just lose its shirt -- it lost that, the shoes, and then the pants. You know, the pants with a half-billion dollars in them.

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The concept of exchanging voice minutes for obligatory ads pushed to handsets is a business model still very much in its infancy, but Blyk -- which currently has a live MVNO in the UK and plans to launch in the Netherlands later this year -- must be feeling good about its chances right now, because it has announced a planned expansion into the German, Belgian, and Spanish markets next year. Key to the service's success is recognition by advertisers that customers actually give a crap about the highly-targeted marketing material being pushed to them; Blyk claims that click-through rates are rockin', which is probably providing the impetus for the planned expansion. We're still not so sure we'd trade 217 text messages and 43 voice minutes a month for the privilege of being blasted with spam targeted promotions, but if they're somehow able to boost the allowance into the range of a typical plan and maintain profitability, they could be sitting on a gold mine.

[Via mocoNews]

So there's really no telling what's up with Helio as an MVNO, but there's plenty going on with the Ocean 2 handset. Just yesterday we noticed a spy shot of the elusive mobile, but unfortunately, the video in which it was captured from had been conveniently removed. Today, however, a whole host of new vids have surfaced over at HelioCity, one of which actually shows the unit while gaming. Check 'em out while you still can in the read link below.

[Via phonemag]

It ain't over until it's over, but we just got word that Helio store managers received notification this week that the axe is finally falling: (at least some of) the nationwide chain of retail stores will be shuttered during Virgin's takeover of Helio. As we've heard, "there is no 'merge' in this merger," so it sounds like after this year's big executive reshuffle, SK Telecom is bailing on their half-billion dollar enterprise a big way. No word if the fabled Ocean 2 will make it -- or if Virgin will even let Helio customers keep their phones.

Alongside Helio -- more or less the last man standing -- the great MVNO goldrush also dies. Unfortunate that besides Virgin and a few local and M2M providers (like Amazon's Whispernet), pretty much no one was able to make it work. Then again, no one ever never said making cellphones and running any kind of carrier was easy.

Hold on to your seats, chaps -- Blyk has just surpassed that magical 100,000 subscriber mark in Britain that it's been aiming for ever since the company got off the ground last fall. For those curious as to why "just" 100k is a milestone worth celebrating, this particular MVNO -- which rents airtime from Orange and utilizes equipment from Nokia Siemens Networks -- issues its customers a free pool of minutes / text messages in exchange for them accepting advertisements. In other words, a totally ad-funded service is somehow managing to go over at least decently well. According to the outfit, it reached the aforesaid goal a full six months ahead of schedule and is currently seeing ad response rates of 29-percent. Kudos, Blyk -- way to quiet those naysayers.

[Via textually]

Apparently, laying off every single one of your employees at your US headquarters doesn't imply you're going out of business. Sonopia, the MVNO that allowed customers to roll their own mini-MVNOs, recently imploded -- but it turns out the company's still there, having maintained its customer base by purchasing minutes through a third-party wholesaler rather than from carriers directly. The remaining operations have retreated to Ukraine, where roughly half of its once 60-strong development staff remains; the CEO says that he's waiting for Americans to warm up to MVNOs to make his triumphant return, and in the meantime, the company is exploring European ventures. For what it's worth, he says they're not pursuing any additional venture capital beyond the $20 million they've raised already, though it's not clear whether that's because he doesn't feel they need any or because they don't stand a prayer of landing funding. On an interesting side node, he also chimed in on the state of other MVNOs currently trying to make a dent in the US market; he thinks value is where it's at, which is what seems to be making TracFone and Virgin Mobile so successful. On the other hand, he thinks Helio already had its chance to be successful; if it was going to be profitable, it'd be there by now, and at this point it's just a matter of how long its corporate parents are willing to cut it an allowance. Then again, do we really trust the opinion of a dude whose MVNO just failed?

Given that MVNOs have been dropping like flies for the past couple years and the fact that the whole business model is being called into question, it stands to reason that a company whose strategy revolves around allowing groups to create their own MVNOs would be on thin ice. Sure enough, the start-up shuttered its US operations in March, laid off all of its employees, transitioned subscribers to its partners, and has "practically ceased operations." At least they were kind enough to see to it that customers were shuttled off to more financially sound carriers before shutting off the switch, but sadly, it looks like that Engadget-branded carrier we've all been yearning to set up is going to have to wait just a little bit longer.

[Via mocoNews]

We'll be honest with you -- it's a bit disheartening to watch the (seemingly) inevitable happen to Helio. After all, it's managed to soldier on despite hordes of other MVNOs hanging it up here in the US of A. Nevertheless, data gleaned from EarthLink's most recent annual report shed some light on its deteriorating situation. Reportedly, Helio's net loss "widened by 41.3-percent to $326.6 million in 2007 compared to $191.8 million in 2006," yet revenues managed to grow 267-percent to $171 million from $46.6 million the year prior and subscriber growth rose 28-percent over last quarter to 180,000. Add those figures to the $42 or so million it lost in 2005, and we're up to a grand total just south of 560 million American dollars. Tough times, indeed.

[Via Silicon Alley Insider]

Back before there was Helio, there was Earthlink, South Korea's SKT, and a dream. Heliocity managed to score some shots of just what that dream looked like in the early days, a similar -- yet decidedly different -- vision than what the MVNO ended up bringing to market. Not only are the prerelease versions of Helio's first two models to market (the Kickflip and Hero) "SK Earthlink" branded, but check out that super trippy Kickflip proto, complete with aerial antenna and secondary LCD for self-portraits. The Ocean obviously came along further down the road, and while we like the all-black finish Helio decided on, we think the two-tone action here would've made for an interesting second choice. Read on for all the visuals.

Sky Dayton, founder and chairman of the phantasmagorical Helio, has announced that he's stepping down as CEO to become chairman of the board of the last-man-standing MVNO. Helio's new CEO will be Wonhee Sull, formerly the company's president and COO, and obviously a direct conduit to co-owner SK Telecom. "Helio has reached a point in its development where I feel the timing is right for this change... As we have for the past three years, the two of us will continue to define Helio's direction and future," said Dayton. Whether Sky's really ready to move on or not we'll never know, but it's certainly possible that the recent influx of cash (and increased ownership) from from its Korean parents and dwindling marketshare of US MVNOs led SK to step in and get things on track.

Update: Lots of fun inaccuracies going on up in here, our bad. We ironed out the kinks, see above for the latest, correct edits to Helio's executive musical chairs.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again -- preferably on a different continent. That's the attitude Disney is taking with its Disney Mobile MVNO, shutting down its poorly-received US service and heading over to Japan where Softbank is serving up the necessary airwaves this time around. The target demo is decidedly different now, too -- whereas the US service was aimed at families with young kiddies, the Japanese rendition is targeting women in their 20s and 30s, seen as prime consumers of Disney content. The first handset to support Disney Mobile will be the DM001SH, a reworked version of Sharp's 821SH for Softbank that features 3G data, a 2 megapixel cam, 400 x 240 internal and 60 x 32 external displays, one-seg mobile TV, FeliCa, and no shortage of Mickey Mouse branding. All told, we'd say it's just a tad hotter than the carrier's now-deceased US offerings. Look for the service to launch March 1.

[Via Tech-On!]

Helio has gotten official with the slim, sexy Mysto slider -- a branded, CDMA rendition of the Ultra Edition 10.9 that should ultimately become the MVNO's top of the line handset just this side of the Ocean with a 2 megapixel camera, microSD expansion, and the now-typical GPS and EV-DO data. There's a catch, though; it turns out that Helio will start out by soft launching the phone through its "Helio powered by SK Telecom" division that caters directly to the Korean American market. A full-scale launch is planned for January, but we've been told that folks should be able to approach staffers at Helio's New York and Santa Monica stores with a nudge nudge, wink wink starting December 26 and get hooked up for $149 (even though no Mystos will be on display). Good luck, shoppers!

MVNOs left and right are discovering that it takes way more than a round or two of venture capital and a dream to be successful; Amp'd is probably the most spectacular and well-publicized of the falls from grace, but they're certainly not the only example. Latest to fall victim to the virtual network backlash is XE Mobile, a service focused on college students that offered pay-as-you-go service and a host of crappy phones atop AT&T's network. We're not sure how many customers are left scrambling for an alternative here before the network goes dark on December 31, but seeing how the company's death was nearly as silent as its birth, we're guessing it's not terribly many -- which explains the shutdown, we guess, and the circle of life begins anew.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Virgin Mobile's October IPO raked in a solid $412.5 million -- a little bit off its highest estimate, yeah, but still boatloads (and when we say "boatloads," we mean "hundreds of millions of dollars") higher than what it had thought it could get when it first announced its intentions to go public. A new class action suit alleges that the $412.5M figure was inflated, though, by Virgin's fudging of third quarter revenue figures which conveniently have since been revised down to indicate a $7.3M loss. Unfortunate coincidence? Maybe, but Virgin's stock fell a solid 14.4 percent on news of the redone numbers, so we can understand that a few shareholders might be grumbling about the sitch. Meanwhile, the MVNO's form letter reaction to the news is in full effect, claiming that the lawsuit is "completely without merit," so we're guessing this one's gonna be tied up in the legal system for a hot minute or two.