Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Sky Dayton Leaves Helio

Given that Sky Dayton now has resigned as chief executive of Helio, the wireless joint venture between SK Telecom and Earthlink, one has to conclude that Dayton, at least, thinks the end is near. Shutting Helio down is a possibility, though not the only possibility. Earthlink itself is for sale and it is possible Dayton sees the larger transaction coming.

Earthlink clearly wants out of the Helio venture, but SK Telecom clearly believes in the business, hoping only to replicate the success it has had in its home market. The issue rests with SK Telecom, as the Korean firm recently invested $70 million in Helio and now has voting control of the venture.

Maybe Earthlink executives have found a way to reorganize the firm in a self-sustaining way. If so, it almost certainly would have concluded that it must stop investing in the muni Wi-Fi and Helio ventures.

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