Helio's long way to rise

Implications: Reasons behind the fall of ESPN mentioned in the article are true but not complete.
Helio's market segmentation is very well defined but there are some obstacles in execution as subscriber acquisition prove to be more difficult that both JV partners anticipated. 

Analysis: MVNOs that target a very specific age or social class segment are a a successful proven model for some operators (Virgin Mobile) but are difficult to execute for some others (Helio).
In general the mobile US market suffers from low content usage since it is perceived by most users as a voice communication tool and a work tool (e-mail via PDAs). Using the handset as a "fun" tool is only limited to very young subscribers that usually depend on their parents to pick up the bill, so specialized content that has to be accessed through an expensive customized handset has a low acceptance rate.
Helio has capitalized on SKT experience in the world's most wired and tech savvy market of South Korea and its respective content that does not need to be relicensed. It's initial market target target of young Korean expatriates did not lead to the customer acquisition both JV partners have anticipated. As a matter of fact, Helio has become a financial burden on both its JV partners. The limited availability of handsets (currently only two models) and their high price tag ($200 and above) coupled with limited availability of local American content (which will take longer time to license) will slow down Helio's aggressive marketing plan so it will take it a longer time to be successful. It's ultimate success depends on its capability to license local premium content that target their age and social economic class of customers.