Sprint and Virgin Mobile USA have begun notifying its postpaid customers acquired from the Helio acquisition that Virgin Mobile will cease operation of its postpaid service by May 25.
Virgin Mobile spokesperson Jayne Wallace further elaborated:
“No customer will be automatically migrated to Sprint’s postpaid service. However, Sprint has created a special offer for our customers. Current Virgin postpaid customers are being given $50 towards the purchase of a Sprint postpaid handset with a new two-year agreement. This credit is in addition to any applicable rebates that may apply. Postpaid customers moving from Virgin Mobile to Sprint will also receive $150 off of handsets as part of Sprint’s standing new customer offer. Activation fees will also be waived.”
Wallace further stated that Virgin Mobile customers will need to contact Sprint or Virgin Mobile before May 25 if they want to keep their current Virgin Mobile postpaid number, with the change only applicable to postpaid accounts.
Helio began as a joint venture between Earthlink founder Sky Dayton and Korean carrier SKTelecom in 2006 with the launch of high-end handsets sourced from then unknown manufacturers Pantech and VKMobile.
Helio was also the progenitor of the current wave of hybrid plans which bundled data access along with a specific pool of minutes per month. Helio was also the first to introduce an unlimited monthly access plan which bundled unlimited voice airtime and data for one flat rate a month.
Sprint has been consolidating pre and postpaid services in the last year, beginning with the complete acquisition of the Virgin and Helio brands. Virgin Mobile also confirmed that its prepaid services will continue to be marketed and offered alongside Boost Mobile’s offerings.
Does this mean that Sprint is kicking all of Virgin Mobile customers off of it’s network? Not exactly sure what Helio is, thought it was a brand of phone…
Helio was an MVNO that offered contract plans, they were bought by Virgin. The legacy Virgin prepay is fine, those conttact plans will need to go with Sprint or another carrier
If your Virgin Mobile account is prepaid, you don’t need to do anything. Your service is not being terminated.
If you have a Virgin Mobile postpaid account, either with Helio or with Virgin Mobile Postpaid, you will need to either migrate to Sprint or port your number to another carrier (or your service will be terminated, and you will lose your phone number).
didn’t know Virgin had a postpay option
It’s unbeleivable that Sprint can get away with this. They bought the Helio contracts, which include a responsibility to customers, who mostly opted for Helio to get the handsets. Now Sprint (whom I called today) says that while they will give service on their network, they don’t support any of the handsets, and you have to buy one of theirs. No other carrier supports the handsets either, so they are completely useless. There has to be a class action lawsuit in here somewhere, against Helio (Earthlink and SK), against Virgin, or against Sprint, for the cost of these handsets, which they were selling as late as February, and which are now useless.
If anyone knows about any upcoming class action lawsuits against Sprint regarding this issue I would be happy to join. I have a Helio Ocean – which, as of tomorrow, will be nothing more than a brick.
-Charles
i feel ur pain charles ive had an ocean for over 2 years and this is how we get payed back
Thanks, Kane.
I was one of Helio’s biggest fans – “DON’T CALL IT A PHONE!!!” I was even a member of Heliocity (a Helio online community). I loved the idea behind Helio as it was a pioneer to so many things regarding mobile service and devices. The Ocean was a unique and useful phone whle my bill was much less expensive than any other similar “All-In” postpaid plan. As a matter of fact, it was Helio that pioneered the All-In plan.
It was disappointing when Virgin Mobile bought Helio but at least I was able to continue using my phone. Now Sprint buys Virgin’s postpaid contracts and my phone is useless. To be honest, the Helio Ocean was no longer cutting edge or nearly as cool as it was 2 years ago but it worked well for me. Now that I think of it, it was too thick – but it was one of the first dual sliders – and THAT was cool and useful.
I considered switching to Sprint to take advantage of the $50 credit for Helio/Virgin Mobile subscribers, but their best phones currently available will soon be out-shined by new devices (The Evo4G). I AM NOT SIGNING A TWO YEAR CONTRACT TO GET A NEW PHONE WHEN UPGRADED VERSIONS WILL BE ON THE MARKET IN A FEW WEEKS. Sprint should extend the $50 offer for Helio/Vigin customers who prefer to wait for the EVO4G).
The other big mobile providers are also about to launch their latest and greatest smartphone devices – Verizon has the Incredible coming out in a week, and AT&T/APPLE will probably be releasing the new iPhone4 next month.
Sprint’s HTC EVO4G, Verizon’s HTC Incredible, and ATT&T’s iPhone4 will blow all other smartphone’s off the shelves when they are released. There is no way I am signing a two year contract today when these phones are weeks away. So for now, I am TRYING to port my Helio number over to a TRACFONE (which is turning into another nightmare).
There will always be a better smartphone on the horizon, but with all three major carriers coming out with flagship phones it makes sense to wait before getting locked into a contract.
BTW, if there is any silver lining here it is that my new Tracfone gets full bars in my home. My Helio Ocean mobile device only got one or two – and sometimes would not ring at all when people tried to call – and I live right in the center of town. I was sick of all the dropped calls, too. You know, I’m ready to switch carriers. Maybe this isn’t so bad after all…but I still think there should be a lawsuit against Sprint.
What phone are you switching to?
I figured I would just wait to decide what to do until the 25th. Sadly I wasn’t warned I would lose my number. I just spent 1,000 on advertising in business cards, flyers, and an ad in my local phone book. All with that number on it. What the heck am I supposed to do no?
hi charles yeah i know it sux but i had no choice but to switch to sprint cuz i waited til last minute and was worried i would lose my number but they gave me a 150 dollar credit and a 50 dollar rebate so i got it for free for there samsung exclaim..its pretty cool its a dual slider and they sent it to me that day and recived it early next morning and has the same plan as helio for 70 dollars a mont with a plan that lets u call any cell pone for free at any provider and free on wekends and after 7 on evenings. wish i didnt have to switch but atleast i can recieve pics now cuz my helio wasnt recieving pics for past 6 months cuz of virgin mobile. still im un happy with the situation but atleast i got a free phone and free activation and shipping still doesnt cut it but what can u do.. any ways as of now im happy with the phone atleast its cool kinda like the ocean not as thick and has many newer features
update: im getting the evo 4g since sprint allows u to have a 30 day satisfaction period so i figure i might as well get it since its only 4 days away til its available, im very excited to have it. ive been looking up the vids on youtube etc. and the evo 4g looks incredible. 4g runs 10times fster then 3g and also uses either 3 or 4 g if u dont want to pay the extra ten dollars on top of the 20 u have to pay for internet service. and actualy it has wifi also and can be a router up to 8 devices, but i might not hve to pay an internet charge at all since i have wifi at my house but ill figure it out. all in all the evo is teh best ive ever seen in all aspects but ill give an update after i get it fosho
The porting of my Helio phone number finally went through on my new Tracfone. I’ll keep the Tracfone until I find a suitable substitution for my Helio. I’m honestly not thrilled with Sprint as I have a hard time getting a signal from them in my home. My Tracfone, which uses AT&T signals, is full bars (just like in the commercials). Maybe I’ll wait for the new iPhone4.
Otehrwise, I like the idea of 4G and wifi with Sprint. Maybe it was the Helio that got the crummy signal and not the signal from Sprint?
I’ve got the Evo 4g and the Verizon Incredible on my radar. Now it’s just a matter of picking a company and a plan.
I miss the Helio All-In. What a bargain that was. I think Boost Mobile has a similar plan but I don’t know about their phones or signal.