When the major carriers are all out improving their prepaid offerings, there’s not much the little guys can do but improve as well. And that’s what Cricket wireless has done. Among the improvements are more features in their premium calling plans, and the addition of a new entry-level plan. Of note to anyone with Cricket: Caller ID is available with every plan. This wasn’t available through the $35 plan previously. Read on for the specific updates.

Telephony Online tackles a question that many have been asking: What does Virgin stand to gain from a merger with Helio? Yes, our initial reaction might be that they’re two cool services, and will become one mega-cool service. But I like gum, and I like peanuts, but I wouldn’t go chewing both at the same time. So what does Virgin Mobile and its 5 million customers stand to gain from Helio and their 200,000?

Did you know that most carriers don’t allow you to block text messages coming from a specific number? This is an issue we went over last month. It’s quite frustrating. What’s more bothersome is that with T-Mobile, you can’t even turn text messaging off completely. So if you’re being spammed, you’ll get charged. T-Mobile was actually hit with class action lawsuit earlier this year over texting services. Their answer is to institute a blocking program. Hooray!

I was actually excited to hear about merger talks between Virgin and Helio, a subsidiary of SK Telecom. Really, the two services seem perfect for each other. Virgin is one of the top prepaid companies out there, despite their shaky financial situation. Helio is one of the most feature-rich MVNOs out there. Problem is, SK Telecom is denying these rumors.

We know that Congress is aiming to put restrictions on prepaid phones. But how exactly will they do that? On the one hand, yes, you want to be able to have some idea of who is purchasing these phones. As has been noted by many, prepaid phones are widely used in drug deals. But to restrict the purchase of prepaid phones too much is to weaken the industry. It appears now that some states are looking to require photo ID when purchasing a prepaid phone.

One of the biggest running stories in the prepaid industry is the AWS spectrum being rolled out by MetroPCS and Leap Wireless. They’re two uncommon players in the prepaid game: They own their own network, yet do not offer postpaid services. Further, they both offer unlimited services, rather than bundles of minutes and messages. The Advanced Wireless Spectrum is in essence their third generation offering, and both have been rolling it out in different markets. While Leap says they want to have all markets rolled out by the end of 2009, Metro is eyeing a bit more aggressive timeline.

It seems a tough situation for Leap. They gained in terms of sales and profits over the first quarter of last year. But they’re still at a loss. The company announced this morning that they had brought 230,000 customers into the fray during the first period. Their net loss was narrowed about $6 million, their sales were up $75 million, and their service revenue was up $77 million. So things are looking better. They’re just not above water yet.

What do you get when you cross an MVNO that struggles to make a profit with another MVNO that struggles to make a profit? We might find out, as Virgin Mobile is in talks to acquire Helio. Well, it might not be that simple. See, SK Telecom, the company that owns Helio, wants to make a bigger imprint in the U.S. So things might get a bit complicated.

There was a time when the major carriers didn’t care much about their prepaid divisions. This is part of the reason carriers didn’t so much mind leasing wholesale minutes to MVNOs. They filled a niche that the nationwide carriers could not afford to focus on. Something happened last year, though. The big carriers started to take better care of their prepaid divisions. We’ve seen each of the Big Four improve their prepaid offerings. Combined with their nationwide coverage, this is helping them outshine the little guys.

We keep hearing about grocery store MVNOs — namely Hy-Vee and H-E-B. And since I haven’t heard word of them shutting down, it appears that they may be onto something. Another one has reared its head: Meijer, a Midwest chain with 181 supercenters in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky.