Helium announces new token to scale 5G in multi-network expansion

The Helium Network, the world’s fastest-growing decentralized wireless network, announced a major model expansion to meet the demand to support an unlimited number of wireless protocols, each with its own incentive model and governance.

Starting with 5G, the Helium Network will have a new token called MOBILE that rewards Hotspot owners for providing 5G coverage. As other networks join over time, each network protocol will have its own token and governance. Each new token will be backed by HNT, still redeemable for HNT at any time.

Today’s expansion was made possible through a majority vote of 96.9% from the community by way of a proposal called HIP 51 ~ a community proposal aimed at unlocking more utility for the network and propelling it to be a ‘Network of Networks.’

“The Network of Networks is the next big chapter for Helium, and will help unlock the full potential of its utility,” said Amir Haleem, founder and CEO of Nova Labs, formerly known as Helium Systems, Inc. “Helium’s mission has always been to create an affordable and accessible network built by and for the people. HIP 51 is the culmination of this goal and I’m excited to support the Helium Network’s role in adopting an unlimited number of protocols.”

“As the network began deploying Helium 5G, it became increasingly evident that the original Helium Network incentive model had to be expanded to serve 5G and beyond,“ said Scott Sigel, COO of The Helium Foundation. “We’ve seen the IoT network power nearly one million Hotspots, so I’m eager to see where the opportunity the 5G network brings us next.” Yahoo! Finance