Is this a sign of things to come? Following on luxury MVNO Voce’s abrupt (and unethical) bankruptcy, Helio has just lowered the price of their unlimited rate plans. The Helio unlimited plan offers unlimited voice minutes, data, and SMS text messages for a new, low price of $99.
The price has been slashed from the previous $145 price point, and the new price seems to be a limited affair. The new $99 Helio unlimited plan doesn’t allow device-tethering, but hey, it’s still a good deal for heavy-talkers/data-consumers.
Now, what does this price-cut mean for Helio? One way to look at it is that Helio is just trying to expand its customer-base by playing around with rate-plan prices. On the other hand, Helio may be hurting for more customers. When carriers find themselves short on subscribers (and cash), they generally slash prices – which is exactly what Voce kept doing before their network went dark a couple days ago. After all, Helio has to make sure it puts that fresh $70 cash infusion to good use.