The Los Angeles headquarters of wireless carrier Helio, a joint venture with SK Telecom. /Courtesy of www.mobilitee.org SK's U.S. Venture Ropes in Tom Cruise SKT Becomes First Korean Mobile Carrier in U.S.

Earthlink CEO Rolla Huff said in a press release that the company is closing inessential offices in an effort to reduce its operating costs, and that additional cost-cutting steps are expected in the next few months.

News agencies said that Earthlink was hit by heavy losses from its joint venture in Helio.

SK Telecom and Earthlink launched Helio, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), in May to the tune of US$270 million (W260 billion) each. Helio weighed down Earthlink with a net loss of about US$83.3 million (W76.7 billion) in the second quarter.

Helio has approximately 100,000 subscribers with an average revenue per unit (ARPU) of about $100, which is nearly twice that of other MVNOs.

An SK Telecom official said, "Helio has potential if it achieves the goal of luring 250,000 subscribers by the end of the year. Of course, we're discussing insurance against unforeseen incidents, too."

(englishnews@chosun.com )