How Helium Mobile is Disrupting the Big Telco Industry

The People’s Carrier: How Helium Mobile is Disrupting the Big Telco Industry

The telecommunications industry, long dominated by giants with vast infrastructure and deep pockets, is experiencing a shift. This disruption is led by a new player that leverages innovative technology and community participation to redefine connectivity: Helium Mobile. We’re calling it “The People’s Carrier”.

What’s the Status Quo for Traditional Telco?

Traditional mobile carriers provide coverage by investing in expensive infrastructure and overhead (think: cellular towers, supporting software, and all the people to manage it). The costs of all that infrastructure and overhead are absorbed by its subscribers, who pay a lot of money for a relatively simple service. To further monetize the massive capital expense of building a centralized network across the United States, traditional mobile carriers will often sell your personal information and data to generate more revenue.

How is Helium Mobile Different?

Helium Mobile is decentralized. Helium Mobile takes the traditional mobile carrier model and reimagines it by combining the coverage of a partner network (an existing traditional mobile carrier) with people-built coverage – the Helium Network, that’s built, operated and owned by individuals. As Helium Mobile leverages coverage built by people, it reduces its reliance on the partner network over time, lowering overhead costs and enabling it to continue to provide benefits to Helium Mobile subscribers. 

Helium Mobile rewards its subscribers. Helium Mobile is also the first ever “People’s Carrier”. Helium Mobile subscribers are seamlessly connected to Helium Mobile Hotspots anytime they are within range of one, and support network development through Discovery Mapping – a process of sharing anonymized location data as subscribers move through the world to inform where Hotspots can have the greatest impact. Subscribers who participate in this mapping are rewarded with crypto for anonymously sharing the data that helps inform how to improve network connectivity.  

Helium Mobile puts the power in the hands of the people. The data that users generate when they use the Network isn’t used to enrich big telecom, data brokers, and other third parties they’ve never even heard of. It’s used to enhance the Network and improve their service.

Helium Mobile: The People’s Carrier

To deliver on our mission, we aim to supersede cell phone towers — owned by centralized companies — with a decentralized network of millions of community-deployed Hotspots. 

We call it “The People’s Carrier”: a transformative, new model for wireless communications network infrastructure. 

The Helium Network (aka The People’s Network) is:

• Built by the people. It’s a network for mobile voice and data connectivity that’s powered by Hotspots, deployed and owned by individuals who join the community.

• Run by the people. It’s secured and incentivized by rewards on the blockchain, and changes to this system are decided by users via a transparent voting process.

• Priced for the people. It creates true wireless convergence and continuous connectivity at a sensible cost.

Connected by Community

A decentralized system of Helium Mobile Hotspots (and/or compatible equipment) is deployed by friends, neighbors, local business owners, and creative entrepreneurs to build the Network and improve connectivity. Hotspot deployers and mobile phone subscribers are also rewarded for the work they put in to enable connectivity. Hotspot deployers are rewarded for creating connectivity in their local area and for the mobile data usage that goes through their Hotspots, and subscribers who participate in Discovery Mapping are rewarded for anonymously sharing the data that helps inform how to improve network connectivity. With Helium Mobile, everyone is rewarded for the work they put into building and growing the Network.

Changes to how the Network is run and paid for aren’t decided in closed-door meetings at big telco companies whose interests are fundamentally misaligned with their users. Changes that impact users are decided by the community via a transparent voting process.

Consumer-first 

We created Helium Mobile because we envision a world where people benefit from the success of their mobile carrier. Their contributions, whether as subscribers, coverage providers, or both, make the Network more valuable, and we believe they should be rewarded for that.

This decentralized approach enables seamless wireless connectivity and unlimited talk, text, and data while delivering cost savings to consumers. Capital expenditures to build the Helium Network are a fraction of the cost of traditional cellular infrastructure, distributed across deployers in the community who are rewarded for their role in creating connectivity. Helium Mobile subscribers can connect to the Network for just $20 a month and earn rewards for actively contributing to the network and improving connectivity.

Secure, Private, & Resilient

The decentralized network powering Helium Mobile is secure, private, and resilient. Helium Mobile prioritizes data security and does not track voice and messaging data. Subscribers who opt to enable Discovery Mapping share location data anonymously and are rewarded for how that data informs the building of a better network. 

Helium Mobile also prioritizes security and privacy by implementing industry-leading capabilities to protect users, including multi-factor authentication (MFA). Decentralization enables security and resiliency for the Network as no singular company or critical infrastructure can be the target of nefarious actors or subject to technical issues that cause massive outages. 

Helium Mobile phone subscribers and Hotspot deployers can be assured that their data is safe, secure, and exclusively theirs:

• Data is anonymized: We believe in personal privacy and will never sell subscribers’ data to advertisers or other third parties. 

• Data is used to improve the community-powered network and Helium Mobile service: We will only collect essential data in the course of normal business or through opt-ins such as Discovery Mapping. Data provided will only be used to improve the Network, not shared with data aggregators or unrelated third parties at subscribers’ expense.

• Earn rewards for sharing data that improves the Network: Helium Mobile subscribers who opt-in to share location data and participate in Discovery Mapping can earn crypto for the work they do to help build a better network. 

Helium Mobile isn’t just another player in the telco industry — it represents a fundamental shift in how we think about connectivity. By leveraging decentralized technology and incentivizing community participation, Helium Mobile is poised to disrupt the industry in ways that could benefit consumers and businesses alike. We’re excited to see how the Network grows and evolves.