It is no secret that MVNO carriers Helio and Virgin Mobile have seen better days. Helio has burned through its investments multiple times, and Virgin Mobile is not doing too much better. Both have had a very difficult time gaining subscribers. SK Telecom is now considering options for its U.S. venture, and one of them may include a potential merger with Virgin Mobile.

The deal would have SK Telecom dropping the cash, which would be used to buy out Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile would then purchase Helio in an all stock transaction. Both of the MVNO carriers are using Sprint’s network, so in theory, customers would be able to bring their existing equipment to the table of the new entity.

SK Telecom, who is the largest carrier in Korea, has been looking for ways to increase their presence in the U.S. Initially, Helio was a joint venture between Earthlink and SK Telecom, but Earthlink dropped out of the deal, after Helio did not perform as well as expected. When asked about the rumors, CEO Dan Schulman would not give a straight answer, but did hint at possible acquisition of another MVNO.

“We don’t comment on any rumors out there, but we have said that we believe that there are opportunities for us in terms of non-organic growth, such as another MVNO, or capability set that we might be able to avail ourselves of…Certainly there are a lot of opportunities that we see, and we think some of them are intriguing for us, but it’s a matter of what makes the most sense.” – Dan Schulman, CEO Virgin Mobile USA

[Via MocoNews]