It’s no secret that anybody who knows what they’re doing cellphone-wise knows about Helio. If you’re not one of those, I shall explain: Helio is an MVNO that’s a partnership between Earthlink and SK Telecom. They buy bandwidth from Sprint at wholesale rates, basically renting sprints cell towers for their customers. Those customers aren’t customers, though: They’re members. That’s what Helio likes to call them, and that’s how they’re treated. Helio doesn’t nickel and dime its users by charging for every-little-thing, in fact most of their plans include all you can eat texting, pictures messaging, data, and other features.
MVNOs are usually not in good shape. The shuttering of Amp’d Mobile attests to that fact. Helio, though, is doing just fine, thank you very much. So fine that it now knows exactly where the money’s coming from, to the point that it this week it trimmed some fat, letting about 100 people go from jobs that were newly deemed non-essential.
Usually this is a sign of trouble, but not so in this case. In fact, July, which marked the MVNO’s first birthday, was Helio’s most profitable month, and August is already set to beat it. That’s fantastic news, as Helio is the carrier for real geeks. If you’re not on Helio now, you should consider it. And if you are, you know exactly what we’re talking about. Congrats to Helio are definitely in order.
Helio Cuts 100 Jobs, Nothing To Worry About Though [Slashgear]
“Helio Cuts 100 Jobs, Nothing To Worry About Though ”
Tell that to the people that lost their jobs. What a truly thoughtless post.
uh,how do think they made those sales in july and august? by the hardwork performed by the fieldsales reps they laid off! i know, i was one of them.
“Helio Drops 100 Jobs, But That’s OK”
But hey… as long as it isn’t your job… who cares right? 100 FAMILIES will be directly affected, some will loose their homes, others their car, self-esteem etc.
Don’t forget that for every employee, there is most likely a family behind them, so this 100 may affect 200-700 people… still alright with you Matt?
I wonder if your reaction would be the same if you lost your job here at crunchgear.
Jon
Hey give the guy a break………..Everyone knows cut’s in Employment create growth somewhere else..By the why I love my Helio………..Business is Business…..Rememebr thats the hard facts
Phil, tell this theory to the United States textile, steel, manufacturing, design and service sectors of your US Economy. Yes, the jobs are elsewhere now… where labor abuses are abound, people work crazy hours for little pay and environmental regulations are a joke. There is a very profound reorganization in the US economy has has been on a warpath for the past three decades and it isn’t in YOUR favor.
I have been an entrepreneur for all my life, I know the business world very well, but cutting staff is never something to be trivialized, no matter the reasons behind it.
Jon
@ up above: You’re right. It’s pretty bad news for those that had jobs that were cut. But this article is about Helio as an entity, not it’s parts. It’s about the industry and that signs of growth are sometimes painful.
That being said, getting laid off sucks. I myself was a dot-com casualty more than a couple times. Unemployment was my job for months at a stretch, but I recovered, and so will all of these people. Helio has standards in who it hires. I know that all of those people who lost their jobs should have no problems finding new ones.
So yes, it sucks hardcore for about 100 people. But for the thousands of subscribers, it’s good news, as their provider will be around when others have failed.
@ techdaddy: Sorry man, I know it’s the pits. I’ve been there. And while I know this is no real consolation, it’s good to know that Helio looks good on a resume, yah? Silver linings and all that.
I still don’t ever see helio becoming a real player in the market nor them ever becoming a big player. I can’t even name one person of whom I know personally who has a Helio phone in fact. Who knows, maybe I don’t have enough friends.
Hey Jon….I hear ya……….I just try to look at the good things when bad things happen…………..I lost my Job about 5 years ago…….I was in Production…….A Production Worker……….I started my own Company the day I got Laid off ……..Ive been on my own ever since……..I know Im one of the Lucky one’s…..And you know Jon Im very thankful that Knuckle Head like my self can Run a Business……..Hopefully Helio did it for the right reason’s I had AMP’d Mobile Prior………..I think Helio is Great ……I like the Concept that Im not a customer I’m a Member…..I know a little tacky but you know…….They make me feel that way………Good Marketing…..I guess…..I liked Amp’d to Poor managment skill maybe if they laid people off they would still be in business……who knows….I like the small guy any way the long shot…….
Steve, quite a few ppl have helio, I myself is one of them and a lot of my friends. Great phones, and they have pretty cool features. Only downside is that they are kind of expensive…