Helio (wireless carrier)

Helio, Inc. (stylized as HΞLIO) is a former, mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) using Sprint's network that offered wireless voice, messaging and data products and services to customers in the continental United States beginning on May 2, 2006. Originally a 50/50 joint venture founded in January, 2005 between South Korean wireless operator SK Telecom and American Internet services provider EarthLink, early losses caused EarthLink to stop providing additional funding in fall of 2007. SK Telecom provided the required additional funding to sustain Helio, which was re-organized as Helio LLC, and by January 2008, SK Telecom had assumed an increased ownership stake and with it, operational control of the joint venture. Although SK Telecom publicly pledged to support Helio, SK Telecom entered into talks to sell the company to rival MVNO Virgin Mobile USA. Virgin Mobile USA closed the acquisition of Helio and its 170,000 subscribers on August 22, 2008. Virgin Mobile USA exited the postpaid wireless business and retired the Helio brand on May 25, 2010.

The Helio brand was resurrected by Ubi Telecom in July 2015. Helio's new $29 per month rate plan offered unlimited talk, text and data but at capped data speeds of 128 kilobits per second. Since then, Helio has appeared to have gone out of business with its website being no longer accessible.