Helio is back in the market. The company relaunched its service yesterday for customers in the United States with the debut of its 'Worry Free Prepaid Plan' that provides unlimited voice, messaging and data for the price of US$29 per month.
Helio made its brief apperance in the US market as an MVNO offering in 2006. Started jointly by SK Telecom and EarthLink, Helio leveraged Sprint's network to provide voice, messaging and data services to customers, with focus on smaller ethnic markets, specifically Korean speaking communities. In 2010, Helio and its subscribers were merged with Virgin Mobile USA and were later absorbed into Sprint, after which the Helio service was discontinued.
Helio current re-entrance into the US market is enabled by UBI Telecom, which was earlier a distributor of Helio's services. According to UBI Telecom, the new Worry Free Prepaid Plan has no annual contract and includes a first month free trial. The plan allows users to make unlimited calls and send unlimited text messages based on fair usage, and provides access to unlimited data with a speed cap of 128Kbps. The service targets basic users, what UBI Telecom defines as ' users who use their mobile device for practical communication purposes rather than entertainment purposes'.
UBI Telecom says that the service will be delivered on Sprint's nationwide network and the Domestic Roaming Network, claiming to surpass the coverage provided on both Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA and to be the first in the US to implement free Domestic Roaming service among prepaid MVNOs.
In addition to the Worry Free Prepaid Plan, UBI Telecom is also launching the Voice & Wi-Fi Lover Plan, with similar features targeting voice-only customers.
