—iPad 2: The iPad 2 will start getting shipped by manufacturer Foxconn Electronics in late February 2011, according to reports from Taiwanese component makers. The device had originally been expected to ship in January but got held up by tests being done to the device’s firmware. The sources say Foxconn…

The biggest impediment to getting Hedge Fund Manager Philip Falcone’s wireless company getting off the ground is money, but he may be seeing some traction on that front. LightSquared has reportedly obtained a four-year loan worth $750 million from UBS AG, and separately, SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM), which has wanted…

SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) had such big aspirations for the U.S., and now it looks like all its efforts are for nothing. SK Telecom’s entrance into the U.S. kicked off with a bang a few years back with Helio, a joint venture with Earthlink (NSDQ: ELNK). The South Korean telecom…

The recent introduction of a $45 unlimited calling and texting plan by Tracfone Wireless has kicked off another round of price wars in the wireless industry, which may lead to consolidation in the pre-paid market, Dow Jones Newswires reports. In recent months, pre-paid offerings have gotten more popular as they…

Virgin Mobile (NYSE: VM) USA’s CEO Dan Schulman (pictured, right) has a front row seat to the latest trend in the wireless industry—a move by the mass market to adopt aggressively priced prepaid unlimited offers.  Schulman said prepaid interest has heightened recently as prices have fallen and perceptions have changed…

SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM), South Korea’s dominant mobile carrier, is on the look out for new business, with $2.2 billion at its disposal over the next five years to find and invest in them, Reuters reports. With its home market saturated, and with the telco facing stagnate revenue growth, SK…

T-Mobile USA launched a trial in San Francisco two weeks ago that allowed customers to sign-up for unlimited voice for $50 a month, but now there’s evidence that it is quickly expanding the offer to more customers nationwide. Ironically, it was RCR Wireless News, which shut down today, that first…

It doesn’t have a big screen, it’s not touch sensitive and it is even slow at times, but if it’s price you are concerned about, Helio’s Ocean 2, just unveiled by Virgin Mobile (NYSE: VM), may offer some relief. Yesterday, Virgin Mobile USA unveiled the second-generation Helio device, the first…

Boost Mobile, the MVNO running on Sprint’s smaller Nextel network, is offering the most aggressive national unlimited plan yet—for $50, customers will get an unlimited voice, texting, Web access and push-to-talk services, AP reports. The kicker is that it is available without a contract. Other regional players such as MetroPCS…

This year was somewhat an anomaly for the wireless industry. A lot of things got done: the impossible of mergers closed; new phones launched that hold the promise of significant industry change; new business and distribution models emerged; and higher-speed networks were more prevalent, making for a better user experience.…

Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM) will now get paid $4.50 for each subscriber it signs on to the Sprint Nextel network between July 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2009, reports the Kansas City Star, referencing a document filed with the SEC. Previously, Sprint paid Virgin $2.50 per subscriber, up to…

Virgin Mobile USA bought Helio earlier this year, for a paltry $39 million in equity and getting $50 million in investment from British parent Virgin Group and SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM). That we reported on in detail at that time. Now finally, VMUSA has filed details of how the sale…

—Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) Partners With MTV On Artist Discovery: Vodafone has launched a new four-week promotion called Fast-Track that asks unsigned bands and artists to compete for an opportunity to record a single and music video that will be aired on MTV. Interested musicians from 26 eligible countries are encouraged…

Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM) said today it’s laying off about 45 employees in its New Jersey and California offices, which represents about 10 percent of the overall workforce. It now will have about 400 employees on payroll. In a memo sent to employees today, Virgin’s CEO Dan Schulman explained…

Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM) reported stronger than expected financial results today, helped by a series of actions that took place following the company’s acquisition of Helio. It wasn’t so much Helio’s customers and it definitely wasn’t the company’s distribution system that benefited the company, but the deal allowed Virgin…

Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM) reported its Q3 financial results today, which is the first period that includes results from Helio, the struggling MVNO that the company bought from EarthLink and SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) in August. The company easily beat its expectations in the quarter, by reporting net service…

Korean operator SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) reported third quarter net income plunged 57 percent to 333.6 billion won ($225 million), from sales of 2.9 trillion won. Profit missed analyst expectations, which had been forecasted to reach 353.7 billion won, based on a Bloomberg poll. South Korea’s dominant carrier, which has…

So it starts: Helio brand has been integrated within Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM), after the acquisition earlier this year. At CTIA, the company announced its new branding, at least for Helio: “Helio By Virgin Mobile:  Plan To Have It All.” And VMUSA did get all of Helio for the…

—Opera Joins Symbian Group: Browser developer Opera is now part of Symbian Foundation, a Nokia-led consortium that was set up in June to turn the Symbian mobile operating system into an open-source platform…Opera announced that it is teaming up with Nvidia to build an optimized version of the Opera 9.5…