We posted earlier about
Amp'd biting the dust (or, more properly, restructuring before biting the dust) but an article in
BusinessWeek gave some additional insight as to why the carrier could be staring at an early grave. Turns out almost half of their subscriber base skipped out on the bill, leaving the company a little bit "screwed." Out of their 175,000 subscribers, a staggering 80,000 subscribers, mostly on 18-month service contracts, failed to pay their bill.
The chapter 11 status will definitely give some investors pause for thought, as
Virgin Mobile gets ready for an IPO on Wall St. BusinessWeek thinks they'll push back their IPO to fall, giving investors extra time to evaluate the MVNO scene. Of course, they've got 4.9 million subscribers plus the venture is 50% Virgin and 50%
Sprint, but what about
Helio? Will wireless users in the US actually care that the phones from Korea and SK Telecom are actually interesting? Sound off in the comments.
