Helium Mobile, a decentralized mobile and wireless network, has shared its first progress update since the project released its product roadmap in June.
The Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePin) has announced a pilot program with other telecom operators to explore expanded coverage, improved compatibility with third-party hardware manufacturers, and network interoperability.
Helium’s licensing program provides hardware developers with the means to build and market network-compatible hardware such as routers, hotspots, and wireless relays that support wireless communications networks.
RAKwireless becomes the first hardware manufacturer to leverage Helium’s licensing program for its MNTD.FI Pro mobile hotspots, currently available only in the United States.
Helium is also attempting to facilitate crossover between other wireless carriers and distributed networks through the OpenRoaming framework, a wireless standard developed by the Wireless Broadband Alliance.
Related: How DePin Networks Could Decentralize Law Enforcement
Helium builds on previous partnerships.
In early 2024, telecommunications company Telefónica announced a partnership with Helium Networks to expand its wireless coverage in Mexico.
This partnership allowed Telefónica subscribers in Mexico City and Oaxaca to connect to nearby Helium Mobile hotspots, reducing the traffic load on Telefónica’s network and extending network coverage to dead spots in remote areas.
DePin attempts to destroy existing infrastructure
Decentralized physical infrastructure networks are back in the spotlight, and the sector is ranked as one of the most profitable in the first half of 2024. According to BitEye data, DePin has delivered an average return of 58.74% for investors.
These networks allow individuals and communities to control the physical infrastructure around them, monetizing it by providing services, maintaining it, and upgrading it.
Regulated public services, such as Internet service providers, energy companies and telecommunications companies, are notorious for being capital-intensive enterprises that require huge initial investments to provide infrastructure and personnel.
Because the costs are so high, utilities are protected by local jurisdictions as monopolies. They work with local governments to set prices and policies, in exchange for being the only providers of service to that area.
DePin’s advocates argue that these decentralized networks could disrupt the internet and big tech by lowering barriers to entry for regulated utilities that control the market through regulatory capture.
magazine: Ethereum is ‘Widely Underrated’ but It’s Getting More Powerful: DeFi Daddies, Hall of Fire