The business, which was co-founded by Helium CEO Amir Haleem and Napster’s Shawn Fanning, has seen a rapid uptake of its devices in North America across more than 1,000 cities.
The Hotspot enables people to own and operate a wireless network that will support Internet of Things (IoT) technology surrounding them including smart home and IoT devices.
Described by the company as the 'People’s Network', it is created by Hotspots that are able to move data over extremely long distances thanks to Helium’s open-source “LongFi” technology. This comprises of a package that includes the LoRaWAN protocol and the Helium blockchain, which enables IoT devices to transmit data 200 times farther than WiFi at significantly lower cost, and which simplifies the process to connect devices to the Internet.
Helium said that its ambition is to connect the world's devices through a new decentralised wireless economy, which is owned and operated by the people and it has created ‘The People’s Network’ to provide low-bandwidth, IoT devices that go beyond the scope of telecom companies.
This open-market approach to a wireless network, which is a first of its kind, removes the huge capital costs required to build traditional cellular networks – and looks to transform the traditional telecom model by creating a 'sharing economy' similar to the one that changed the accommodation and transportation industries.
“Now anyone in Europe can own part of a wireless network that they, and their community, relies on - and help create a world where devices don’t need a mobile contract to function. We’re thrilled with the exponential growth we’ve seen in North America, and are excited to bring the power of The People’s Network to Europe,” said Amir Haleem, Helium’s CEO and co-founder.
The Hotspot connects to a home internet via WiFi or ethernet and extends that connection for hundreds of square miles/km to IoT devices. Hotspots also act as miners with a blockchain incentive that rewards owners with a new cryptocurrency, Helium (HNT), for helping to build coverage and enabling IoT devices to send data to the Internet.
Helium is working with a number of commercial operations including Nestle’s ReadyRefresh, agricultural tech company Agulus, and Conserv, a collections-focused environmental monitoring platform that provides widespread coverage to art and cultural collections to its clients
