Helium Mobile CEO calls early adopters 'parasites' after ending free plan

Helium Mobile caught everyone’s attention with its Zero Plan, a phone plan that offered 3GB of data, 300 texts, and 100 minutes of phone calls for absolutely nothing — no hidden fees or monthly plans. Late last month, the MVNO ended the plan for new subscribers, noting that current subscribers are not affected — but ended up impacting them last week too. If you haven’t already considered your options, you should do so soon, especially given what the company’s CEO thinks its customers are.

On Helium Mobile’s official Discord server, a member shared feedback with the team, saying the company was throwing its members “to the curb” by ending the free plan.

To this, Helium Mobile CEO Amir Haleem commented that the “‘OG’ members are only around because they want free or near free stuff. good riddance”

This comment has now been deleted, but not before the original commenter reminded the company that support from its original users gave it momentum.

To this, Mr. Haleem equated Helium Mobile’s early adopters to “parasites.”

The comment has since been edited to “it came off wrong!”

In a later comment, Mr. Haleem tried to clarify their words, noting that it was “annoying when people characterize things as something nefarious when they change.”

However, it’s worth pointing out that the comment that triggered the reaction was not characterizing Helium Mobile or its Zero plan as nefarious, so the reaction was misplaced at the very least. On the “parasite” remark, Mr. Haleem notes that they didn’t mean the term “quite so broadly” when referring to a part of their customer base.

Helium Mobile’s statement on the end of the Zero plan noted that “Existing Zero plan subscribers are not impacted.” This was contrary to user reports at the time, which claimed they would be moved to the Air plan in the next billing cycle unless they canceled. Helium Mobile ultimately took this route a month later, contradicting its own statement.

Given the company’s complete U-turn in its own statements and the CEO’s now-edited views on its original subscribers, it’s difficult to advise subscribers to place their trust in the company, nefarious intentions or not.