Helium: How Decentralized Wireless Networks Are Reshaping the IoT Ecosystem

While most people are still contemplating how to optimize existing communication networks, Helium is building something entirely different. This project, founded by Amir Halim, Sean Fanning, and Sean Carey in 2013, is redefining wireless connectivity through blockchain technology. From its initial proof of concept to an ecosystem with over one million active devices today, Helium demonstrates the real possibilities of decentralized infrastructure.

The Invisible Giant in IoT: How Helium Connects the World

In traditional telecommunications, centralized operators control all networks. Helium has taken a different path. This ecosystem creates a global, community-driven wireless network by deploying countless independent access points.

Currently, Helium has deployed over one million access points across 77,000 cities in 192 countries. These nodes not only cover urban centers but also extend into rural and remote areas—places that traditional networks often struggle to reach. Each access point owner can earn incentives by maintaining the network, forming a self-sustaining, decentralized infrastructure.

This ecosystem combines LoRaWAN protocol with blockchain technology. The data flow is straightforward: sensors send data to Helium’s access points, which route it through LoRaWAN servers to application servers. Users pay 1 Data Credit (DC) for each 24-byte data packet, which is far cheaper than traditional IoT services.

From Coverage to 5G: Multi-layer Expansion of the Helium Ecosystem

In addition to LoRaWAN’s long-range, low-power features, Helium is building a 5G mobile network. This effort leverages CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) spectrum, allowing ordinary people to become mobile network operators. In the past year alone, Helium has deployed 8,000 5G radio devices.

The Helium Mobile app offers a consumer-grade mobile service. Users in Miami can experience unlimited data plans for $5/month. In comparison, Helium charges $0.50/GB for standard data, still significantly lower than traditional carriers. This cost advantage stems from the network’s decentralized nature—no massive central operational costs.

Three Real-world Cases: Data Speaks

Helium is not just a concept; it has practical applications.

Roof Tec Case: This Washington-based roofing service deployed sensors via Helium to monitor building key metrics in real-time. During one monitoring session, the system detected a faulty vent, preventing a roof replacement cost of $40,000.

Greenmetrics Case: A green tech company in Portugal used Helium for precision irrigation. Soil sensors and wireless weather stations helped golf courses reduce irrigation costs by 14-28%, with equipment costs dropping 5-10 times.

Owen Equipment Case: A U.S. equipment manufacturer tired of the high costs and unreliability of 3G networks. Switching to Helium LoRaWAN-based tracking solutions reduced logistics costs by 47%, improved asset protection, and doubled battery life. The common thread in these cases is that Helium’s decentralized approach significantly lowers infrastructure costs.

Key Turning Point: Why Helium Migrated to Solana

In spring 2023, Helium made a bold decision—to abandon its independent Layer 1 blockchain and migrate to Solana. This seemingly radical move actually addressed an urgent problem.

Helium’s native blockchain faced bottlenecks in handling two core functions: scalability of the PoC (Proof of Coverage) consensus mechanism and data transmission reliability. As the number of access points surged, verifying each node’s network coverage claims became increasingly complex. Ensuring secure data transfer among millions of active devices also became challenging.

What does Solana bring? First, performance—Solana’s average transaction fee is $0.00025, compared to Helium’s previous $0.35, a reduction of over 1000 times. Second, ecosystem integration—Solana has a large developer community, using Rust (versus Helium’s previous Erlang), making it easier to attract new developers. Third, DeFi opportunities—post-migration, HNT, IOT, and MOBILE tokens can be traded on platforms like Orca and Kamino, gaining liquidity and new use cases.

User Experience Revolution: NFTs, Compressed Storage, and Smart Contracts

The most immediate change from migration is the tokenization of access points as NFTs. On Solana, each Helium access point becomes an NFT, enabling new features such as trading markets, permission verification, and identity authentication. Additionally, Helium adopts Solana’s compressed NFT technology, greatly reducing storage costs and transaction fees.

Smart contracts also make Helium’s network more flexible. Developers can now build complex applications beyond simple data transmission—ranging from environmental monitoring and asset tracking to smart cities and precision agriculture, unlocking a wide array of innovative use cases.

The Helium Foundation has relaunched its grant program to support open-source hardware and software development, further fostering ecosystem innovation.

Token Economics: Roles of HNT, IOT, and MOBILE

Helium’s economic system revolves around several key tokens:

HNT is the network’s core asset, with a maximum supply capped at 223 million. It is used to pay for data transmission (burned to generate DC) and participate in network governance. Currently, HNT is priced at $0.81, down 3.55% in 24 hours, with a circulating market cap of $150.68 million.

IOT is the incentive token for IoT subnets, earned by LoRaWAN access point operators. Its max supply is 200 billion.

MOBILE incentivizes 5G network participants. Its current price is close to $0.00, down 5.84% in 24 hours, with a market cap of $6.65 million. Both IOT and MOBILE can be exchanged for HNT and participate in governance within their ecosystems.

SOL is required for interacting with the Solana network, used to pay network fees. Its current price is $81.30, down 3.07% in 24 hours, with a market cap of $46.16 billion, becoming an essential cost component after Helium’s migration.

DC (Data Credit) is generated by burning HNT and used to pay for data transfer fees within Helium.

veToken Governance: Beyond Simple Voting

Helium’s governance has evolved into a deeper decentralization mechanism. After migration, the network adopted the veToken model—an innovative design originating from Curve.

Users can lock HNT, IOT, or MOBILE tokens, gaining voting rights proportional to the amount and duration of the lock. The longer the lock-up, the stronger the voting power. This encourages long-term participation rather than short-term speculation.

Helium Network, IoT subnets, and Mobile subnets each have their own governance mechanisms. Locking HNT grants veHNT, which is used for key Helium Network decisions like HNT issuance adjustments. Locking IOT grants veIOT, mainly for voting on IoT ecosystem development. Mobile operates similarly.

Notably, locking HNT also provides token rewards, while locking IOT and MOBILE only increases voting rights. This balances incentives and governance power distribution.

Helium’s Future: From Infrastructure to Application Ecosystem

Helium is evolving into a comprehensive wireless infrastructure layer—not just connecting devices but providing a trusted, decentralized data transmission channel for various applications.

From real-time smart city monitoring, precision agriculture, environmental fire alerts, to logistics asset tracking—Helium’s use cases are expanding. The ecosystem already includes 25 access point manufacturers and four LoRaWAN roaming partners, with ongoing collaborations with major telecom operators.

This “People’s Network” aims to empower ordinary individuals to participate in building global infrastructure and earn economic rewards. It represents a genuine challenge to the centralized telecom industry.