Wednesday, May 14, 2008

SK Telecom Looks To Sell Helio Stake

SK Telecom, the South Korean mobile phone firm behind Santa Monica-based MVNO Helio, and Virgin Mobile USA said Wednesday that the firms are talking about "strategic opportunities" for Helio. No details on the negotiations were released, however, both Virgin Mobile and SK Telecom said in terse, released statements that they were in preliminary discussions on the strategic opportunities for Helio. SK Telecom owns 69 percent of Helio, which is co-owned by Earthlink Inc. Helio operates a youth-focused mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), marketing its wireless voice and data services in the United States. Helio is headed by Earthlink founder Sky Dayton.