Virgin Mobile USA & Helio to Merge?

Do two sets of wireless carrier mergers qualify as a "rash" of mergers? Even if it's not a rash, it's certainly pretty red and itchy right now.

Mergers are tricky beasts. It's not a secret that the majority of mergers fail in a pretty spectacular way, more often than not due to a mis-match in cultures. However I for one, really hope that this one does pan out for the consumer's sake. With all this consolidation, the consumer is losing options for their wireless carrier.

The positives are that Virgin Mobile and Helio are both marketed towards a similar crowd and both piggyback Sprint's network. As Reuters reports, if the combined company can harness Virgin Mobile's scale and Helio's strong portfolio of services, it could do reasonably well.

It may take a few months to see if the merger is a good idea. Almost anything can be made to look good on paper. But like so many things in life, it's the execution that matters.