The SK-EarthLink joint venture has unveiled plans for its MVNO offering and changed its name to HELIO. The MVNO will target the tech-savvy youth market and leverage SK Telecom's experience with that segment in South Korea. HELIO will look to its parents for guidance: EarthLink's customer service skills and SK Telecom's technical advice.
The MVNO will retain the original contracts it previously announced for network capacity deals with Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless, but Sprint Nextel will be the launch partner for HELIO. However, Verizon Wireless' network remains an option for HELIO and EarthLink Wireless services. The joint venture had originally planned to launch services in the third quarter of 2005, but it now plans to launch by next spring. HELIO hopes to attract 3 million subscribers, or about 2 percent of the US wireless market, by 2009, with $2 billion in annual revenue by that time.
For more on HELIO:
- take a look at this press release