Lightspeed Newsletter: Helium Mobile is letting third parties license its hardware
The post Lightspeed Newsletter: Helium Mobile is letting third parties license its hardware appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Today, enjoy Lightspeed on Blockworks.co. Tomorrow, get the news delivered directly to your inbox. Subscribe to the Lightspeed newsletter. Howdy! Last night, I had the timeless New York experience of grabbing a drink at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville in Times Square. So if I sound extra chilled out and relaxed in today’s edition, it’s probably just that the residual good vibes are yet to wear off. Rest in peace to a legend. Now as for the crypto world: Helium Mobile really wants to grow its network The distributed cellular network and DePIN darling Helium Mobile has begun licensing its tech stack for third-party providers, I reported earlier today. For the uninitiated, Helium Mobile is a cell phone plan built partly on a network of distributed hotspots. These “mini cell towers” can be run from a kitchen counter or a coffee shop, for instance, and it’s all incentivized via Solana-based MOBILE tokens. The announcement is a noteworthy one because until now, Helium Mobile cell coverage could only be created by the provider’s in-house created hotspots. By launching the licensing program, which will let third-party manufacturers use Helium Mobile’s tech stack to create their own hotspot devices, Helium Mobile appears to be placing a primary emphasis on growing the network. Helium Mobile has a few revenue streams, in simplified terms: It earns $20 per month from subscribers, it charges $249 and $499 for indoor and outdoor hotspots, and it can theoretically enter more data-offloading partnerships like its current one with Telefonica. But one notable cost Helium Mobile foots is its T-Mobile bill: the cell plan is a hybrid of Helium Mobile and T-Mobile, where Helium Mobile buys service from T-Mobile in areas where its hotspots aren’t deployed. Amir Haleem, Helium Mobile’s founder, told me recently that setting up a network via distributed hotspots…
Filed under: News - @ June 18, 2024 9:16 pm