Decentralizing telecommunication networks financially benefits small businesses and telecom corporations alike, according to Frank Mong, the chief operating officer (COO) of Nova Labs, the founding team behind the Helium wireless decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) network.
In an interview with Cointelegraph at Consensus 2025 in Toronto, Canada, Mong said that small businesses including bars, restaurants, convenience stores, and other local operators can generate revenue by hosting wireless hotspots and expanding network coverage.
Large telecommunication companies and service providers can also tap into the Helium Network’s telemetry to reduce operational costs and expand network coverage in dead zones.
“It costs about $300,000 for a telecom company to stand up one tower; you need one per block for 5G to work effectively,” Mong told Cointelegraph, The executive added:
“Instead of doing that and making phone plans more expensive, what if anyone with a useful Wi-Fi network shares that Wi-Fi and allows, not just anyone to use it securely, but allows large companies like AT&T to see the telemetry of that network.”
Decentralized physical infrastructure networks continue to be an example of how blockchain technologies can provide real-world value and make existing infrastructure more resilient to outages, disruptions, censorship, and critical failure.
Related: Countries must add DePIN tokens to their digital asset stockpiles
Helium secures collaborative partnerships with telecom companies
In January 2024, Nova Labs announced a collaborative partnership with Latin American telecommunication company Telefónica to expand the telecom company’s coverage in dead zones and help reduce network congestion.
More recently, in April 2025, Helium partnered with AT&T — a global telecommunication giant — to allow AT&T users automatic access to the Helium Network when in range of the network’s coverage area of mobile hotspots.
Data from the Helium Network shows that the United States currently has the highest concentration of the network’s 95,272 mobile hotspots. Additionally, Helium has 284,053 active Internet of Things (IoT) hotspots worldwide.
“Ultimately, what we did in the United States and Mexico should be global,” Mong told Cointelegraph.
Nova Labs is currently focused on expanding coverage through securing collaborative partnerships with telecommunication infrastructure providers in new regions, the executive added.
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