Helium Mobile: A Blockchain-Based Wireless Network Infrastructure

The internet is a core pillar of the modern information order, yet an estimated two billion people are still without access.

Helium Mobile, a decentralized wireless network provider founded by Napster creator Shawn Fanning, is offering a licensing program for its technology stack, enabling other manufacturers to create hotspots and web3 phone devices.

According to a press release shared with crypto.news on June 23, 2024, the program marks a significant step in the industry's adoption of decentralized wireless (DeWi) models.

Helium Mobile’s goal is to make wireless connectivity accessible and affordable for communities around the world. The company's technology, powered by the Helium blockchain, provides an alternative to traditional telecom infrastructure, offering a cost-effective and community-driven approach to expanding internet access.

Helium Mobile’s service runs on a mix of towers, including T-Mobile in the US, Telefonica in Mexico, and Helium Hotspots, which are hosted by individuals and paid in MOBILE tokens (HNT).

“It’s not really a sustainable model, in my opinion. I think it’s starting to break now,” said Amir Haleem, CEO of Nova Labs and the creator of the open-source Helium Network, about the telecom industry's traditional top-down network-buildout model.

Amir expects more traditional mobile network operators to support DeWi models in the future. Especially with Helium Hotspots, users can earn HNTs, which were priced at $3.46 as of June 24, 2024, to provide essential connectivity to nearby Helium Mobile subscribers.

Helium Mobile earlier minted nearly one million Hotspot HNTs to enable other decentralized physical infrastructure projects (DePINs) to verify location data using Solana blockchain technology.

Solana relies on network participants to run the software that keeps the system running. Participants may stop contributing their computational resources if the monetary rewards for participation are not attractive enough to incentivize these contributions.

At current levels, subscribers to Helium Mobile who use Discovery Mapping are earning over 2,000 MOBILE tokens HNT per day, according to CoinDesk.

The fast, scalable, and low-cost Solana blockchain charges Helium Mobile users a small fee (average transaction fee is 0.000014 SOL) paid in SOL tokens, including sending tokens, staking tokens, making payments, swapping tokens, minting NFTs, claiming rewards from Helium Hotspots, and all on-chain Helium transactions.

Helium Mobile has been adding thousands of new customers in the US with its $20 per month unlimited 5G cellular plan nationwide by working with Google to bundle its Pixel 8 smartphone with Helium services and hotspots. The company also supports various other devices, including Solana Saga, the first web3 native phone.

Last year, Solana Mobile, a subsidiary of Solana Labs, unveiled the Android-based phone Solana Saga. The phone is designed to give users a mobile-centric web3 experience, representing an exciting leap forward in mobile technology.

The phone combines the everyday utility of smartphones with the heightened security and privacy necessity of the digital currency landscape by providing seamless access to Solana blockchain defi protocols.

Phone users can directly access decentralized applications (dApps), digital wallets, NFT marketplaces, web3 applications, and other blockchain platforms without needing multiple intermediaries or extra devices directly from the Solana Saga phone.

Helium Mobile’s mission to transform the $3106.1 billion global wireless network infrastructure with its offering of a licensing program for hotspots and web3 phone devices is a significant milestone for the industry that seems to be ready to embrace DeWi.

Communication giants like AT&T, T-Mobile, NTT, Alibaba, and Tencent already incorporated blockchain technology for various purposes like identity and access management, digitally tracking business processes, communication, data storage, and computation.

World Mobile has been tackling wireless dead zones with balloons and towers in the UK by providing token payouts from the Cardano blockchain. And telecom giant Vodafone decided to fuse blockchain technology with smartphone functionality by integrating cryptocurrency wallets directly into SIM cards.

So, there are already several third-party manufacturers and vendors for the IoT network, according to Helium’s website. However, Helium Mobile is currently the only blockchain-based cell phone coverage device provider.

As Amir Haleem commented:

“Licensing the Helium Mobile tech stack is a pivotal step in our mission to deliver accessible and cost-effective wireless connectivity to communities across the US and around the world. We believe that access to the internet is a basic human right, and for many people that access is through a smartphone. Enabling other device manufacturers to leverage our technology will help accelerate a global wireless infrastructure revolution. This initiative is about empowering individuals and communities, driving progress, and building a more connected world.”

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