Helio sells off Buddy Beacon name to uLocate
By Will Park on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 5:47 PM PST In Announcements, Financial/Corporate News, Helio, Services
Helio, like so many other MVNO’s, has been hemoraging red-ink like it’s nobody’s business. Cash infusion after cash infusion, the company has failed to bring their bottom-line back into the green.
Whether or not the financial aspect has influenced their decision to sell off the “Buddy Beacon” trademark is unclear, but it seems that Helio has done just that. The “Buddy Beacon” trademark has been sold off to uLocate, the company that provides the national buddy-finding service.
The move could mark the entry of the friend-location service into other carrier-markets. We could see uLocate take “Buddy Beacon” to other national carriers. Let’s see how this plays out…
“Back” into the green? Helio has not yet achieved profitability, nor were they expected to. Look for Helio to make moves toward profitability in late ‘08 or ‘09.
As for Buddy Beacon, it’s a smart move to sell it off to a third-party. That way, other carriers can offer the service and it becomes more valuable for all.
It might be true that Helio is not yet reached positive cash flow, but that is nothing new. Helio, like all MVNOs have high capital investment costs and once these costs have been amortizied you will see Helio in the green before the end of 2009. Remember Helio has a net margin per line around $55 which is what the other carriers make in total revenue.
Asif Ahmed
http://www.heliobuy.com