Further cementing Google Maps Mobile as one of the most useful free mobile applications ever, Google has added Voice search to its repertoire. It’s an experimental feature at this point, so it’s only on select handsets; if you’re using a Blackberry Pearl 8110, 8120, or 8130 - go update!

The new feature seems pretty easy to use: hold the left soft key, say your search, release the left soft key, and off it goes. It utilizes the same speech recognition engine used by 1-800-GOOG-411, which (based off my past experiences with it) is a good thing. Still, typing still works fine, allowing you to fall back on your thumbs be it that your environment just doesn’t mesh well with voice recognition.

While I’d be a bit surprised to see this feature make it into the generalized J2ME version of the application, we’ll probably see it to roll out to other big-name platforms as Google works out the kinks.

Pearl users can grab the update at http://www.google.com/gmm

[Via BGR]

As if Canada doesn’t already have enough good stuff goin’ for it already, Canadian wireless carrier Telus has announced that they will be carrying the HTC Touch Diamond in its CDMA form “later this summer” (presumably by the end of September.)

This’ll make Telus the first North American operator to carry the handset. Both hardware and software-wise, the Touch Diamond is a bit of a stunner - to recall the specs, it’s got a 2.8″ touch screen, the TouchFlo 3D interface, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and 4 gigs of internal memory.

Now, would someone please announce plans to carry the HTC Touch Pro in the states before my head explodes?

Man, I loves me some Openmoko Neo Freerunner. Sure, it’s not the prettiest thing on the planet. Sure, a completely open source mobile device may be a bit ahead of the times for all but the most dedicated gadget geeks amongst us. But man oh man, have I been drooling about this for a while.

For the uninitiated, Openmoko is a project aimed at creating a series of open source mobile phones. Don’t like the way the device looks? Blast out a new casing with a 3D printer and the provided CAD files. Bugs got you down? Pop open your compiler and code your own fix, or work with other developers to make things better for all. It’ll work just fine out of the box - but if you’re looking to change it up a bit, the sky’s the limit.

Following a limited release to select developers back in the beginning of this year, Openmoko has announced that they’re readying the release of the Linux-based Neo Freerunner for July 4th. At $399, it’s no economy phone. Fortunately, the specs justify the price: tri-band GSM (850/1800/1900MHz or 900/1800/1900Mhz), aGPS, Bluetooth 2.0, multiple motion sensors, a 2.8″ VGA touchscreen, WiFi, and the freedom to do just about anything your technical knowledge and abilities allow.

I’ve put off picking one of these up until it was considered consumer-ready, but I’m achin’ tear this thing apart.

We don’t really hear much about Audiovox UTStarcom these days. In all the time I’ve spent staring at other peoples phones, I’ve come across but a handful of UTStarcom handsets. Am I in the minority here?

Regardless - someone out there thinks UTStarcom’s phones are worth a chunk of change. A group of private investors from AIG Investments has snatched up UTStarcom’s Personal Communications division for a cool $240 million, with an additional $50 million on the line be it that the deal proves profitable over the next three years.

Not much is changing, from what they’ve announced thus far: The new group will be known as Personal Communications Devices, LLC, the original management team is staying on board, and the main focus will continue to be on the manufacturing of North American market handsets.

The mobile game and entertainment company Cellufun adds two new executives to its management team. Tom Burgess will sit on the advisory board and Keith Katz will become VP of Marketing. Both new hires are mobile industry veterans and have experience in the entertainment and advertising businesses.

Tom Burgess is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Battery Ventures. He was the Founder and CEO of Third Screen Media, a mobile advertising network AOL bought in 2007. An executive in online and wireless interactive marketing technology, Mr. Burgess is a pioneer of innovative advertising solutions and holds a patent in wireless advertising. He will assist Cellufun as it develops new advertising models.

“Cellufun’s growth and incredible volume of active subscribers excited me enough to learn more and eventually join the team to bring my mobile advertising and startup growth experience to the table as advisor to the company,” states Tom Burgess. “This company is on an impressive trajectory and I’m happy to be a part of that.”

Keith Katz is the former Head of North American Marketing for mobile gaming company Gameloft. Before that, he worked for Atari in global brand management and had his own startup called Little Upstarts that promotes physical development in infants and toddlers. Mr.Katz also worked for the NFL in brand marketing. Early in his career he worked for Feld Entertainment where he marketed family brands such as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and Disney on Ice. Mr. Katz will develop Cellufun’s brand and market the mobile solution Cellufun provides to service providers, media companies, major brands and advertisers.

“I couldn’t be more excited about joining Cellufun. As someone with a background in both console and mobile video games, I see Cellufun at the epicenter of both worlds. This company is truly unique its ability to entice both very casual and avid gamers to pick up their mobile devices to play games. Cellufun’s offerings have the “stickiness” and community feel of an MMO like World of Warcraft or Second Life that avid gamers crave, but they also possess the “pick up and playability” that many casual Web and mobile game players prefer. These are characteristics that simply don’t exist elsewhere in the mobile world, so a company with a consumer proposition like this is really a marketing person’s dream.”

Cellufun

Legislators in Cyprus are poised to pass a tough law that bans students from bringing mobile phones to school. Jamming handset reception in schools has also been contemplated.

The new law would reprimand students caught carrying a mobile phone on campus. Those caught with a handset turned on could be suspended and anyone filming with a mobile phone would face expulsion.

According to Dr. Zena Poulli, director of secondary education at the Cypriot education and culture ministry, students have been caught text messaging during exams and lessons. Classroom video and pictures have been posted on the Internet, and it is feared this has led to more unruly behavior and violent bullying incidents.

I’m not a fan of banning things. Classroom conduct is the responsibility of the individual teachers. If cheating and not paying attention to lessons is a concern, the teachers should be able to deal with the problems as they arise. Suspension is a serious punishment. Hopefully, school officials will only enforce this sanction in situations where cheating has been proven.

Expulsion is a worst sanction. Schools yard bullies have been around as long as there have been schools. The bullies are the ones that should be expelled, not those who record their misdeeds. Unruly behavior goes hand-in-hand with the education of young people. Anyone with enough education to read this post can remember a time when they misbehaved in school. It is up to the classroom teacher to enforce discipline. Life lessons can be learned from such discipline, along with academic learning.

AT&T retail stores will be open at 8AM local time on July 11th, so be “iReady!” Existing customers who don’t qualify for an upgrade will have to shell out $399 and $499 for the corresponding iP3G model. Customers who don’t want to extend their current contract will pay $599 for the 8GB and $699 for the 16GB model. Current AT&T customers who want to upgrade to the iPhone 3G from whatever else they have will have to pay an $18 activation fee while new AT&T customers will pay $36. Voice and unlimited data plans (e-mail and Web) range from $69.99 to $129.99. $199 my foot. Maybe we should all move to Hong Kong.

Full release on CrunchGear

When word got out that the Sprint would require customers to carry a $70-per-month plan if they wanted to rock an Instinct, folks were a bit worried about whether or not their SERO plans would keep them from activating. (For those who don’t lurk phone forums, SERO is intended as a discounted plan set for those with friends/family that work for Sprint. In practice, it’s a discounted plan for anyone who can track down a Sprint employee email address)

To the surprise of many, the Instinct activated just fine on the SERO plan. No sneaky workarounds or trickery needed - it just worked. Unfortunately, it wasn’t supposed to work. Only those on the $99 SERO Unlimited plan were supposed to have been allowed.

Hoping to grab the “Worst Reaction of the Week” title, Sprint has decided to essentially push the blame onto the customers. Rather than eating the loss as a system error they should have covered from day one, they’re calling up SERO/Instinct customers and giving them an ultimatum: Change plans, or give us the phone back.

Losing money sucks, but once the customer is signed and out the door, it’s on the lap of the company that allowed the screw up to slip through. Sprint has yet to respond, though a number of customers have confirmed the situation.

[Via Phonenews]

Skyfire Labs, the mobile Web browsing company, has added Mike Rowehl to its ranks. Rowehl is to become the Scalability Architect, and oversee all scalability projects. Rowehl is a programmer, entrepreneur and blogger, and has nearly a decade of experience developing mobility systems. Recently, he founded and acted as CEO of Mowser, the Web “mobilize” that turns Web pages into mobile WAP sites.

“Skyfire is leading a major disruption in the way consumers experience the Web via mobile devices and pushing the front in terms of making standard Web development methods effective on handheld platforms,” said Rowehl. “I’m thrilled to continue to be a part of solving some of the most fundamental issues in mobile technology, and honored that the Skyfire team has chosen me as one of the pillars of their effort.”

“Getting Rowehl is truly a coup for us,” said Nitin Bhandari, CEO and Co-Founder of Skyfire. “The success of any start-up is related to its ability to attract top talent, and Mike is a giant in the field, and has an unparalleled knowledge of the mobile industry.”

Skyfire Labs is the creator of Skyfire mobile browser. This technology allows users to experience the mobile Web the same way they do on their PCs. The company was founded in 2006 by Nitin Bhandari and Erik Swenson.

Skyfire

Nokia, the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones, announced today that it would add Warner Music Group’s catalogue of music to its soon to be launched Nokia Comes With Music service. In recent months, Nokia has been aggressive in signing up major labels to its music server. Warner joins Universal Music Group and Sony BMG.

“Warner Music Group has been a pioneer in developing new digital music business models and we are pleased to have them” on board, the head of Nokia’s entertainment unit Tero Ojanperae said in a statement.

The Nokia Comes With Music service should launch in the second half of this year. Customers will be able to download unlimited music for the first year and keep the downloaded music.

Warner Music Group content will also be available through the Nokia Music Store. Nokia is believed to be in discussions with other music labels

While I text way more than I probably should, the dominat chunk of the messages sent are to a small handful of people. For the sake of saving folks like me a few ducats, Alltel has made a change to their My Circle plans which adds unlimited texting to/from anybody within your circle.

It’s not a free texting pass, however; you still have to be subscribed to a messaging pack costing at least $7.99. If you’ve got a bigger group of text buddies, you can still subscribe to the unlimited texting plan for 20 bucks a month. Plan changes begin today.

[Via Phonescoop]

There have been a lot of new local and state laws passed lately that restrict a driver’s use of a cell phone. Starting tomorrow, 16 and 17 year-old drivers cannot text or talk on a cell phone in California. A similar law restricts adults to using only hands-free devices while motoring about. Texting isn’t covered in the law for those 18 and older, but other statutes that are aimed at distracted driving can restrict driving and texting.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 33 states have introduced 127 bills that restrict a driver’s use of a cell phone or similar device. Generally, these statutes don’t apply in emergency situations.

California’s Public Policy Institute believes 300 fewer traffic deaths will take place each year, once the hands-free laws take effect. Anyone caught using a cell phone illegally will be fined $20 for the first ticket and $50 for subsequent tickets. Additional fees may be added to the price, more than tripling the cost.

California drivers busted under the new statutes will catch a small break. The California Department of Motor Vehicles will not assign a violation point to their driving records.

Samsung seems to have found a winner with the Soul - first, they spun it off into the Soulb. Now, they’re taking the original Soul and painting it pink. Word is that next week they’ll be announcing the SoulL: it’s pretty much the Soul, but it smells of lavender.

As far as I can tell, the specs in the pink model are the same as the Steel/Grey/Silver Soul models already available. Anybody outside of the UK hoping for a pink soul better get to spray painting - pink is a UK exclusive.

[Via IntoMobile]

Starting today, Verizon Wireless customers can have access to Rhapsody’s subscription music service. For a fee of $15 a month, subscribers can download as much music they want to their mobile phone. Verizon has seven handsets that can utilize Rhapsody’s catalogue of music, and plans three more in the near future, including a third version of the music-oriented LG Chocolate.

Rhapsody will now allow potential customers to listen to entire tracks for free, up to 25 per month, through the “music discovery service” iLike. Previously samples were only 30 seconds long.

In order to protect against piracy, Rhapsody songs downloaded to a Verizon phone will come with DRM (digital rights Management). Copies for personal use can be made on a Widows PC running Rhapsody software. Currently, there is no Macintosh software that lets users make copies.

Verizon Wireless
Rhapsody

At this point, writing a post bagging on Motorola is like writing a post about why punching babies is a bad thing. It’s just too easy, and no one really needs to be convinced. That said, all I see when I look at this phone is an odd attempt to strap a bunch of extraneous plastic onto a touchscreen and pretend the design is useful.

Boy Genius has dug up some details on Motorola’s newest stab at the touchscreen market, the Motorola Blaze. It’s coming to Verizon, with EV-DO Rev. A, Bluetooth, GPS, and a 2.0 megapixel camera. Word thus far isn’t too good: the browser is less than okay, and the on screen keyboard is even worse.

Check out a few more shots over at BGR.

Following a series of delays after its announcement at February’s Mobile World Congress, it looks like Opera Mobile 9.5 is finally ready to make its public beta debut. According to the official Opera Mobile blog , it will be available for download on Opera.com starting on July 15th.

For just about every Opera Mobile fan, the 15th can’t come soon enough. Powered by the same rendering engine (Presto) used in the Opera Mobile 9.5 desktop browser, it oughtta be about as fast as it gets. With support for Opera Widgets, Javascript, AJAX, and Flash (Lite 3.0), Opera Mobile 9.5 might just knock Mobile Safari off its high horse.

Oddly, the post only mentions Windows Mobile support; no mention of a Symbian release date yet.

Oh, how I shall miss Helio.

In light of this morning’s long expected announcement that Virgin Mobile had purchased Helio, a Q&A has gone up to answer some of the more pressing questions.

It’s all pretty straightforward: there will be no service interruption, new members are welcome, contracts are still valid, and they expect the Helio brand will eventually be dissolved.

HELIO and Virgin Mobile USA are teaming up to combine our strengths and deliver a better mobile experience. On June 27th Virgin Mobile USA announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire HELIO.

HELIO gains access to Virgin Mobile USA’s extensive distribution network and broad customer base, while Virgin Mobile USA gains access to HELIO’s exclusive, high-end devices and premium services. Both companies look forward to coming together to bring exciting prepaid and postpaid opportunities to their customers.

Q: What does this mean for current HELIO members? Can I still use my HELIO device, while keeping my HELIO service plan and number?

A: Current service plans will continue without interruption – it will be business as usual. HELIO members are at the center of this transaction and we’ll continue to bring them the innovative mobile services they’ve come to expect.

Q: Can new members still sign up for HELIO service?

A: Absolutely. HELIO will continue to offer exclusive, high-end devices and our innovative All-In plans.

Q: Will the HELIO brand be retained, or will everything migrate to Virgin Mobile USA?

A: Over time, we expect that all aspects of the customer experience will be integrated under the Virgin Mobile USA brand. Integration of the direct sales channel will begin immediately, and we expect that existing HELIO products and services will soon be offered through the Virgin Mobile USA website at www.virginmobileusa.com.

Q: So what’s next?

A: We’re excited by the possibilities our new, combined team offers. We have some big ideas, but as you can imagine, a little bit of housekeeping is in order before we share them. Stay tuned!

Q: Does this affect my current contract with HELIO in any way? When Virgin Mobile USA does acquire HELIO, can I end my current contract without paying an early termination fee (ETF)?

A: HELIO contracts remain in effect and unchanged by this transaction. HELIO members who wish to end their contract early will still be subject to an early termination fee (ETF).

The Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum announced yesterday it will meld its activates and membership list into the Linux Mobile Foundation (LiMo) with the hope of creating a strong base for promoting a mobile Linux operating system. Entities like Symbian and Android are competing with Linux to create a worldwide standard for an open mobile phone operating system.

“LiPS Forum is proud of our standardization efforts, development activities and other achievements of the last three years,” LiPS Forum president Haila Wang said in a statement. “Our membership agrees that LiPS’s greatest impact can be realized by adding our members’ expertise and resources to LiMo Foundation. Together, the member companies can better strive for a unified and ubiquitous Linux-based mobile platform.”

Mobile technology fans should find the race for a standard operating system a good competition. Android was created by Google, the Internet search engine giant, with all the money and innovation that company can bring to the race. LiMo has a head start over Android, with the first handsets that use Linux software entering the market in a few months, well ahead of Android. Symbian is a tough competitor too. It is expected that the world’s largest manufacturer of handsets, Nokia, will buy the company.

I don’t know if bookies in Britain have placed odds on this race but it is becoming the Olympics of technology. Whoever wins, it should be good for the mobile industry. No mobile operating system will dominate the market like Windows controls the PC world any time soon, which makes the contest fun to watch.

LiPS

Over the past year, China Mobile and Apple have been dancing about in a bid to bring the iPhone to the world’s largest mobile market. The main hang-up has centered on revenue sharing demands from Apple. China Mobile announced today that Apple has dropped this demand and negotiations are underway.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, said earlier this week he would like to see the iPhone enter the Chinese market. An executive of China Mobile confirmed that the two companies are now in negotiations.

“We’ve broken through the biggest obstacle and we are negotiating at the working level,” Gao Songge, deputy director of China Mobile’s general department, said.

No timetable for a Chinese launch of the iPhone was given. It is speculated that it will take place later this year, but months after the iPhone’s 22 nation start date coming on July 11. China Mobile is the world’s largest service provider with around 540 million subscribers.

Here’s the press release for now. There will be a conference call at 11am EDT that I will broadcast on CrunchGear live. More as we get it.

WARREN, N.J., June 27, 2008 – Virgin Mobile USA, Inc. (NYSE: VM), a leading national provider of wireless communications services, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Helio, a joint venture between SK Telecom and EarthLink, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELNK) providing highly advanced postpaid products and services with unique user applications. Under the terms of the agreement, Virgin Mobile USA will acquire Helio from SK Telecom and EarthLink for limited partnership units equivalent to 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA class A common stock, with a value of $39 million based on the closing price of Virgin Mobile USA’s class A shares on June 26, 2008.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008, subject to receiving regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Dan Schulman, Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Mobile USA, said, ”We believe that the acquisition of Helio and the related strategic investments by SK Telecom and Virgin Group are of enormous benefit to our business, both financially and strategically. The reduction of our long-term debt and the increase to our revolver will realign our capital structure, providing us with greater liquidity and increased flexibility to grow our business. At the same time, we will acquire an asset which will add to our scale, allowing us to reduce our network costs and assure that Helio’s customers are immediately profitable when brought on to our cost structure. We expect the combined elements of this deal will drive increased Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow.”

Accelerating Virgin Mobile USA’s Growth
Upon closing, this transaction is expected to achieve a number of important steps for Virgin Mobile USA. Strategically, the acquisition of Helio allows Virgin Mobile USA to add a set of unique and differentiated data applications to its suite of products and services, greatly enhancing its offer across its customer base. Entry into the postpaid market will also give the Company access to approximately 140 million prospective customers1. Including reductions in Virgin Mobile USA’s network rates and an improved capital structure, this transaction is expected to be accretive to Adjusted EBITDA in 2008, excluding non-recurring transition costs, and to be accretive to Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow in 2009.

With the acquisition of Helio, Virgin Mobile USA will gain an established and highly advanced postpaid billing and customer care platform. In addition, Helio has approximately 170,000 existing subscribers with an ARPU of approximately $80 and a handset inventory of approximately 85,000 units with a book value of approximately $17 million2. Acquiring Helio’s customers and expanding its offer portfolio is expected to increase Virgin Mobile USA’s volume of minutes and drive down the Company’s cost per minute under an amendment to its PCS Services agreement with Sprint (NYSE: S).

Schulman added, “This strategic acquisition integrates Virgin Mobile USA’s brand recognition, scale and extensive distribution with Helio’s accomplishments in advanced handset and content offerings. It provides us with a firm foundation to create a truly holistic, leading-edge product suite to service all of our existing and prospective customers. With about 20% of our disconnects currently going to postpaid products, we believe this new platform will be a powerful retention tool as we offer a unique and desirable postpaid alternative to our customers.”

Helio has been at the forefront in developing leading data services, in partnership with You Tube, Google and MySpace. Virgin Mobile USA will use this unique intellectual property to strengthen its competitive position in the prepaid, hybrid and postpaid markets while moving its handset lineup upmarket. Consequently, the Company expects to drive incremental growth in data revenues in the future.

Source: Nielsen Mobile, 2007. Total registered postpaid lines of 223 million; 60% spend less than $70 per month.
Helio Balance Sheet as of June 16, 2008. Fair value may be materially different upon fair value analysis post-close.
Strategic Investments Made at $8.50 per Share
Virgin Mobile USA also announced today that Virgin Group and SK Telecom will each invest $25 million of equity capital in the Company, creating an aggregate investment of $50 million. The investments will take the form of mandatory convertible preferred stock, convertible to Class A common stock at $8.50 per share, pending shareholder approval. The preferred shares will carry a four year maturity and a 6% annual dividend. Upon approval of Virgin Mobile USA’s shareholders, the preferred stock will convert into Class A common shares when the shares reach the conversion price or upon maturity.

Through its holding of limited partnership units and preferred stock, SK Telecom is expected to own the equivalent of approximately 17% of Virgin Mobile USA, and will take two seats on Virgin Mobile USA’s Board of Directors.

Jin Woo So, President, Global Business of SK Telecom said, “This transaction and our long-term, strategic investment in Virgin Mobile USA continue SKT’s strong momentum in the U.S. market, and will allow Helio and Virgin Mobile USA to realize significant synergies and strategic benefits. Virgin Mobile’s scale, strong brand power and expertise in prepaid with Helio’s leading technology, innovative services and experience in postpaid will together form a powerful new platform that will bring new value and flexibility to customers. We believe the strength of the business model will serve to enhance the value we built at Helio, and we look forward to a long-term partnership.”

Improved Capital Structure
Virgin Mobile USA intends to use the proceeds from these strategic investments by SK Telecom and Virgin Group to pay down a portion of its existing senior secured loan. SK Telecom and Virgin Group have also agreed to provide an additional $35 million and $25 million, respectively, to increase Virgin Mobile USA’s existing revolving debt facility, which will support the Company’s ongoing strategic growth. The additional revolver is expected to be used in part to fund debt and net working capital liabilities associated with restructuring and improving the efficiency of Helio’s ongoing operating costs, up to a maximum of $25 million. Following this additional investment, Virgin Mobile USA’s total revolving debt facility is expected to be $135 million. At close, approximately $15 million of the revolver is expected to be drawn to repay Helio’s outstanding debt and to fund one-time integration costs and transaction fees, resulting in an estimated undrawn balance of $75 million at close. The Company expects to use the revolver to fund up to an additional $10 million in restructuring and integration costs over the next 12 months, and for working capital as needed. Virgin Mobile USA intends to pay down $50 million of its existing senior secured loan upon close of the deal, which was approximately $269 million on March 31, 2008. Under the terms of its amended credit agreement, the margin on the outstanding balance of the senior secured loan will increase 100 basis points to LIBOR+550.

John Feehan, Chief Financial Officer of Virgin Mobile USA, said, “The strategic investments made by Virgin Group and SK Telecom will significantly improve the capital structure of our business by increasing our liquidity, and allow us to pay down $50 million of our senior secured loan. Combined with the Adjusted EBITDA accretion we anticipate, this reduction in debt will substantially increase our covenant headroom, while reducing our debt service on the senior secured loan by a net 17.7%. The improved capital structure, with the incremental cash flow we expect to generate, will provide us with a great deal more flexibility in funding the growth of the business and in servicing our debt.”

Operational Synergies and Improved Network Rates
Under the terms of the agreement, Helio will make significant cost reductions before the expected close of the transaction. Also after close, Virgin Mobile USA expects to make further improvements to Helio’s operating and customer acquisition expenses, through handset volume discounts and improving Virgin Mobile USA’s network rates through an amendment to its PCS Services agreement. In aggregate, Virgin Mobile USA anticipates Helio’s SG&A expense to be reduced by more than 70% by the end of 2008, with the majority of savings coming from the rationalization of distribution and headcount reductions. Virgin Mobile USA also expects to see significant cost savings as it centralizes the Helio offerings under the Virgin Mobile brand.

Virgin Mobile USA has also reached an agreement with Sprint to revise the terms of its existing network contract, and expects to achieve a minimum of an 8% reduction in its effective cost per minute in 2009, with further reductions over the next three years. Under the new amendment to the PCS Services agreement, Virgin Mobile USA’s cost per minute is tied directly to the volume of network traffic it generates, and will no longer be dependent on Sprint’s network costs. Virgin Mobile USA will achieve reductions to its per minute rate upon achieving certain targets for the volume of minutes used by its customers. This new volume discount structure allows Virgin Mobile USA additional flexibility in pricing, while substantially reducing the Company’s third-party risk. Additionally, effective July 1, 2008, Sprint will provide a $2.50 network usage credit to Virgin Mobile USA for each gross customer addition, with a cap at $10 million.

Top-Tier Customer Platform
SK Telecom and Helio have built a proprietary postpaid customer platform, with highly advanced web architecture. This platform features a broad range of fully integrated functionality for postpaid, prepaid and hybrid customer support, including real-time rating engine, billing platform, and credit review. It will allow Virgin Mobile USA to immediately enter the postpaid market, implementation for which on a stand-alone basis would require a minimum of 12 months.

Greatly Expanded Handset and Data Offerings
Helio has built its reputation by providing its approximately 170,000 customers with highly sophisticated data services, and Virgin Mobile USA will leverage these advanced applications along with Helio’s established postpaid platform, social networking content and feature-rich handsets to provide its customers with the latest in wireless products and services. This acquisition will allow Virgin Mobile USA to provide current and future customers with unique user applications on Sprint’s high speed EV-DO network, including Google maps with GPS, as well as integrated You Tube and MySpace applications.